Let's take a moment to pause and pay attention to how you're feeling right now. Are you excited? Joyful? Bummed? Anxious? What's causing these feelings?
I've mentioned before and I will continue to say it: it's not our external world that needs fixing, but rather our internal reaction to the world.
Let me ask you something: are you dissatisfied with your job?
If you say yes, that's you being dissatisfied with something that's neither good nor bad. Your job is your job. It is what it is.
If you're unhappy at work, it's not the job that's the problem. It's your feeling about your job.
I'm not saying you should never do anything to improve your external conditions. If something could be made better, or if there is injustice happening around you, by all means take action to fix it.
The problem is when we think that by fixing our external world, i.e. getting a new job, we'll find that happiness we're looking for. Sure, you might find pleasure, but it won't last. It'll be fleeting, and then before you know it, you'll experience the same dissatisfaction that you had at your old job.
This is why it's absolutely necessary to look inward to solve our problems before we try to look outward.
Pay attention to the things that get you angry, overwhelmed, or stressed. Just take a neutral approach and recognize that you're feeling what you're feeling. Don't judge it. Don't beat yourself up.
I used to spend a lot of time beating myself up, and it's sad to think that I've spent a good portion of my life doing so. So many of us do. But now I understand why, and that there's a better way to go about setbacks and negative situations in our lives.
When we beat ourselves up, we waste so much energy. It's bad enough that something happened. But for some reason, we tackle on the act of self-loathing. How cruel we can be to ourselves!
When we beat ourselves up for a shortcoming or something we're not happy about, that's just your mind trying to make itself feel better about a shitty situation.
But remember, you are not your mind! You are the observer of it. The moment you realize that it's in your mind's nature to have conversations with itself, for that voice to go back and forth all day long, the quicker you'll be able to detach yourself from it and realize that you are not it.
The moment I recognized that I - that is, the real me, the soul, the spirit, the conscious being - am the observer of my mind, and the inhabitant of my body, the quicker I was able to feel a deeper sense of peace and serenity.
It's just like watching a movie. You're the viewer of the drama, the excitement, the action, the tragedy. You feel it, but you are not it. The truth is, your thoughts, feelings, and outside world are all part of that movie. You're the one in there experiencing it.
While everything changes, you remain unchanged. You remain the source of light, love, and joy. You can never lose yourself. You just get lost in the weeds of your thoughts and emotions, and then forget that you're the one in there.
Remember, you are love, you are strength, you are light. So go out there and shine your light on the world!
Live with substance!
Gabe Orlowitz
