Do read the first post from this series, before reading this one.
Excerpts from the book are in image form, and my insights are in bold, below them.
The author starts the chapter with the story of Buddha.
He explains the central tenet of Buddha’s principal philosophy, as follows :
The false premise :
When I was trying to lose weight, I kept telling myself that once I reached my goal weight, I’d finally be content.
But when I did reach my goal, and lost even more weight, I felt nothing! I was as stressed as I was before, this time about losing even more weight.
That’s the nasty thing about goals, once you reach one, you set another. Every once in awhile, make it a habit to stop and smell the roses.
The struggle is important :
As the saying goes, ‘No pain, no gain.’
One thing I’ve learnt from the struggles I’ve been through, is that I wouldn’t be as strong as I am today, if it weren’t for those tough times.
Life = Problems :
Happiness = Solving problems :
Blame & Denial :
It’s true, blaming everyone but ourselves is really easy, and I did that for many years, and got nowhere.
When I did accept my problems, I ended up solving many of them.
I had written a post on this, in the past, titled 'Victimhood & Comparison'.
Emotions are overrated :
Being a highly sensitive person, trying not to get carried away by my emotions is a daily struggle.
I believe that making decisions with contributions both from our mind as well as our heart, is imperative.
The Hedonic Treadmill :
The concept is explained better in the video below :
Choose your struggle :
Note : For a more detailed understanding of the excerpts, do read the book. It’s a brilliant eye-opener!
You can check out Manson’s blog, here.
Thank you for reading! Stay blessed!
© TheKindTempest