We have yet to recognize the fact that our thinking about any painful event as something real, solid and unavoidable is one of the conditions that perpetuate it. Take one thing out of the conjunction, and it is no longer the same event. When we stop giving our life energy to any moment which seems overpowering, it loses its illusion of power. In that moment is also lost our prior belief that w...

It is never the event or the condition that holds us captive, but it's the way we think toward it that creates our sense of captivity. Help yourself to the keys of self liberation hidden in these next ten insights. Take the time you need to let each concentrated idea sink into your heart and mind. The truths you are about to meet are actually alive. If you embrace their healing presence, t...

The following key lessons are taken from 365 Days to Let Go. Use their insights to help you put an end to taking the guidance of fear. In truth, we are never more lost to ourselves, or to the hope of realizing our own unlimited potential, than we are when we give ourselves over to the fear of what may become of our lives, for whoever takes fear as a guide follows not just the blind, but is...

I'm sure we can all agree that no intelligent, conscious man or woman would ever intentionally hurt him- or herself. No one would choose to ache. Yet the fact remains that all of us do hurt ourselves every day with bursts of anger or fits of depression or anxiety. Even at the simplest level, there can be no doubt: fear and worry take an immeasurable toll on our health and well-being. So, then,...

One thing is certain: whether in our waking life, or in the dreams that visit our evening's rest, thoughts and feelings fill our every present moment. But just because you can feel or sense all of their diverse characteristics -- such as worry, fear, impatience, courage, or compulsiveness -- doesn't make the "you" that experiences these movements real -- any more than standing under the ca...

Have you ever noticed just how unhappy you can get over the fact you are not happy? Unexamined, this behavior seems to make sense. But a closer look at it will reveal that being unhappy over being unhappy is like throwing gasoline on a fire to put it out. You get lots of fire and smoke -- even a strange excitement -- but in the end all you are left with is ashes. This is why you must understan...

In the still uncharted realms of mind and heart, there exist parts within every person that are drawn to seek out relationships with thoughts that are self-wrecking: for instance, when we become transfixed by our own troubles, turning the image of some fear-producing picture over and over in our mind. And who hasn't found himself drawn into an argument where the antagonistic voice in his head...

The gradual realization that you need never again try to find yourself in your thoughts about yourself is like one day happily realizing that hitting yourself over the head was the cause and not the cure for your daily headaches. To your grateful amazement, you discover that the inner-pounding you so wished would go away finally came to a stop when you stopped pounding. This startling realiz...

Psychological suffering is a waste of life. It is pointless, cruel, and above all deceptive. I say deceptive because psychological suffering is an unnecessary pain that we are presently certain is not only necessary, but actually unavoidable . . . a part of real life. Mental and emotional suffering are not a part of real life. You do not have to live with any tormenting thoughts or feelings no...

If we are to succeed at taking back authority over our lives, we must persist. After all, we have many years of wrong thinking and negative emotions to see through. As we become more familiar with the wrong powers that have been ruling our lives all along, we discover many disturbing things within. With these new discoveries, it may even feel sometimes as though we're getting worse, not better...

Gradually I'm beginning to realize that my pursuit of pleasure and the avoidance of pain are the opposites of a single thought. How do I back up and see the whole thing in its entirety, so as to be free from this unconscious duality? The understanding of the operation of the opposites is not an intellectual act. Using reason to try to escape the opposites, to negate them, is just the begi...