I must have been absent that day

It is amazing the things we don't learn in school.

How about this little idea: An emotion is our bodies reaction to our thoughts

Sometimes we have emotions that are reactions to our surroundings but for the most part, our emotional currents are determined by our thoughts and beliefs.

For most of my life I have been very careful how I acted and what I said but I figured that the thoughts in my head were my own business. I could blame, I could ridicule, I could do what ever I wanted in the confines of my mind. The problem is that those negative judgemental thoughts soon become mirrored in my body as emotions. So, now I am thinking negative thoughts and feeling negative emotions. If I buy into the popular idea that I am nothing but my mind, that there is no deeper reality that connects me to the rest of life, then I am lost at see.

At one time I believed that my thoughts were mostly beyond my control. My mind was always busy and very compulsive. I could not stop myself from indulging in resentments, worry and fear. I had no tools for dealing with my inner state. So I desperately tried to control my surroundings. If I could get everyone to do what they should do, then I would feel OK. If I could arrange all the peaces of my life just right, then I would be happy. You can probably guess how well that went.

I felt like a little boat being thrown about the sea. It felt like all the world was in chaos. I was constantly being bounced around.

A couple of years ago my wife played me a song written by Josh Joplin called I am My Trampoline. Here are some lyrics from it.

I Am My Trampoline

Some people wish they could be like Moses And get their information from burning
bushes
Well I tried but the neighbors complained I set their lawns
aflame

CHORUS:
I'm up and down I'm going in circles
I'm anxious to know what I mean
The days change like old opinions And opinions change everything
I am my trampoline

I went abroad to break my concentration
But instead I broke my glasses lost my voice in translation
I talked but I couldn't be heard
I never spoke a word

It is a great song and the lyrics really hit home. I had always been convinced that the world was tossing me around, when in fact the truth was much more poetic: I am my trampoline.