Understanding negative thoughts

If I check the facebook news feed To see what my friends are up to I often feel angry, disappointed or frustrated with what I see or read.

People share Some negative stuff or comment, What they ate, many things that are not real and have no positive Influence or Relevance In our lives (Deadpool, Batman, celebrities), vanity/ego Related stuff, Or something that they like and they want you to like as well so that they can Get Reassurance from others.

This Is just an example but Negative emotions can arise every day, at any time and for many reasons, How can we take Advantage of This and use these negative emotions To improve ourselves and strengthen our spiritual practice:

1) Understanding that it’s Perfectly normal that these negative emotions Arise. Good thoughts and bad thoughts Come and go all the time Inside our minds. That is the nature of human mind and there is no Reason to feel guilty Or punish ourselves for having negative thoughts. So feel free to feel Sad, angry, stressed or frustrated. Otherwise, you will end up feeling stressed about being stressed, and then feeling stressed about being stressed about being stressed, and so on. It’s better to feel stressed just once, understanding that this too will pass and embracing the freedom that Comes with that understanding.

2) Understanding The suffering we cause to ourselves and to others When we try to control stuff. I cannot control my thoughts, Facebook or my friends But I can control my attitude towards them.

3) Understanding the real reason why they post those stuff and I post this stuff is because of causes and effects, We are all conditioned By many different Variables and none of us is in Full control of our actions or our thoughts.

4) Understanding we are all in different stages in our lives, Some people are looking to be entertained or numbing their minds with Art or technology, Some are seeking Sensual pleasures, Some are seeking physical experiences, others look to acquire Material wealth while Others seek Intelectual materialism, and some are looking for peace, happiness, and contentment within their own minds. It’s okay that we are all in different paths and I shouldn’t expect others To be on the same path as me. If our paths cross along the way that’s great if they don’t that’s also great.

5) Understanding that suffering comes from expecting From life something it cannot give us. If I expect to be Inspired by Facebook I’m gonna get disappointed, if expected to have Only happy and peaceful thoughts I’m gonna get disappointed when negative thoughts come and that will lead to suffering.

6) Understanding that it’s okay for me to get frustrated or annoyed, I’m not perfect and I don’t need to be, as long as I try To understand the thought processes that go behind Suffering and freedom That’s already a small step towards the right direction. We will get there eventually When we stop worrying about getting there. when we set peace, happiness, and understanding as a long-term goal instead of a Short-term achievement every small step counts. And even if we don’t get there What matters is that we gave it our very best.

 

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