It's mind-blowing

Feeling horrible right now?

Plan didn't work? Things not going your way? Experienced a setback?

The reason you're feeling so bad isn't purely that the external circumstances are worse. It's also you. This isn't something people who are feeling angry, sad, or scared want to hear. "You're saying it's me?!"

It's true, though, and the better you internalize this lesson, the better off you'll be.

Our moods change over time even if the external circumstances don't change. What can feel like a horrible situation in the morning can seem quite all right in the afternoon.

One day, you feel great about your job. Your coworkers are great, your office is beautiful, and you helped some people today.

The next day, you feel shit. Your boss was rude to you, you got soaked on your commute, and a customer complained.

Your job didn't materially change between today and yesterday, of course. Your experience of it did.

Realizing how much our brain state affects our experience is mind-blowing.

If it doesn't make sense, download a meditation app and meditate for a little while. See if you get what I'm saying about then.

If it does make sense, also download a meditation app and meditate. 😉

I don't know how to convince you other than saying it over and over again:

How you feel is determined, to a huge degree, by how you interpret external circumstances, rather than by those actual circumstances themselves.

Yours,

— Peter