Situations don't cause feelings - Deepstash

Situations don't cause feelings

Sadness, depression, frustration, upset, and anxiety can only be produced by seeing a situation and then producing an interpretation of it and then believing that interpretation. So, you and I can only be overwhelmed by our thoughts about something, never the thing itself.

One person sees rain and gets sad because of their story about rain that they're believing ( "It's gloomy, it means I'll be cooped up.") . Another person sees rain and gets happy because of their story about rain ( "It's refreshing. It's romantic. It grows my garden"). It's the same rain in both cases. Rain has no meaning until we add it.

In both cases, it is the thought believed that is causing the feeling. Something happens, and we add the meaning of it.

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The idea is part of this collection:

How to Cope With Intrusive Thoughts

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How to overcome unwanted thoughts

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