It’s All In How We Judge Something Or Someone

It’s not people, things, or circumstances that upset us, but how we think about them. Stuff always happens. We then make judgments in our heads about what happens. For example, if we judge something awful has occurred, we might get sad, upset, or angry.

In a similar vein, if we imagine that something terrible is likely to happen, we might get scared or fearful.

All the emotions, feelings we experience are the product of the judgments we make. So our feelings are entirely a creation of our perception of what has happened.

Everything that we experience is value-neutral. Our perceptions and judgments attach a value to each experience, and it is this value we attach that triggers our emotional reactions. What may seem terrible to one person may seem indifferent to another or even be welcomed by someone else. I am an Indian, so I am upset and sad if the Indian cricket team loses. If someone supports another team, they might be happy that the Indian team lost. Every individual will perceive the same experience differently.

While we may not control what happens, we certainly can control how we perceive or judge something. Every day, things happen, none of which are inherently good or bad, and it’s up to us to decide how we value them.

The paradox of our human existence is that we have no control over nearly anything, yet we have complete control over how we feel. Because we have the power to choose how we perceive and judge everything we experience.