''To what degree am I a prisoner of my mind?'' How to break free of negative emotion.

Today I realize that the question lies not in whether or not we are caught in the mind-made prison. The real question to ask is, ''To what degree am I a prisoner of my mind?'' 

This illusion is the cause of all our suffering in life. It is not the cause of some of our suffering or the majority of our suffering; it is the sole cause of all the accumulated suffering we have experienced since our first memory and up until this present moment.

"Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth.'' Marcus  Aureolius

When you realize that everything is nothing but a perspective, you become free for the first time in your life.

Soon you will see that there is no good or bad, only an interpretation of what is. You will realize that your whole experience is based solely on your interpretation of external events that are completely neutral. You will understand that you have nothing figured out and that all the things you thought you knew are nothing but imaginary constructs of the mind. You have so much talent and potential inside you that is not coming through because your mind has imprisoned   by its own misconceptions.

When you are no longer a captive of your mind, you can be, do or have anything. It is time to wake up and realize this.  

We are creators of our own experience. We are expert creators who are constantly shaping, molding and creating meaning. One of the great tragedies in life is that most people never truly get to realize the sheer power and potential of this innate ability. It is not wrong to create meanings and representations of things; in fact, it is our very nature to do so. You are going to interpret the world whether you like it or not. You are never truly seeing ''reality'' exactly as it is.

If there was any one skill in life that could give you infinite happiness, wealth, connection and self-esteem, it is your ability to create  your reality.

Life is an internal experience, mistaken for an external one. You never truly see what is going on in the external world, all you are seeing is the meaning and interpretation you choose to give the external.

There is no such thing as a negative or positive external event. Whether something is negative or positive depends solely on the meaning you are creating and how you choose to represent an external experience in your  

If you feel that you have a low quality of life right now, it simply means that you have been creating low quality meanings. How skillful you are at creating meanings that empower you, is going to determine the quality of your life.

The next thing I want you to do is to define the concept of the ''Unknown'' and see what it means to you. Each person has their own associations and meanings to given words and, when it comes to growth and change, it is very important to take a look at your associations to the concept.

My current associations to the Unknown: Excitement, growth, energy, courage, being ready for whatever, empowerment and knowing that I am growing because I am not afraid of getting out of my comfort zone.   My associations to the Unknown 6 years ago: Fear, risk, failure, possibly getting judged, feeling uncomfortable, and not necessary.

If you have negative associations to the Unknown, you are going to do everything in your power to stay away from situations where you don't have absolute control. Most people's life quality can be drastically improved by just finding 5-10 of their limiting beliefs and changing them. Each single one of your beliefs has the power to create either depression or joy in your life.


The Mind-Made Prison: Radical Self Help and Personal Transformation by Mateo Tabatabai