It’s The Thought That Counts

In an effort to get us to buy more greeting cards, greeting card companies try to convince us that, “It’s the thought that counts.”

The greeting card companies are right — nothing matters except what we choose to believe.

Stoic philosopher Epictetus reminds us of the only real power we have — the power to choose:

Keep in mind that it isn’t the one who has it in for you and takes a swipe that harms you, but rather the harm comes from your own belief about the abuse. So when someone arouses your anger, know that it’s really your own opinion fueling it. Instead, make it your first response not to be carried away by such impressions, for with time and distance self-mastery is more easily achieved

In our culture we have so many choices and options for things to do, we can easily get carried away and overindulge in entertainment, food, exercise, work. But one overlooked area of overindulgence is our own emotions. It’s these very emotions that we project into the world effectively creating our reality. Getting swept away in a flood of emotions is a self-fulfilling prophecy of sorts:

• Anger brings conflict
• Anxiety brings worry
• Fear invites more fear

We have to remember these things:

• Perception is reality
• It’s our opinion of things that disturbs us, not the thing itself
• We don’t see things objectively (as they are)…we see things as we are

We can’t necessarily control our emotions and how we feel, but we can exercise our power to choose and not allow our emotions to control us.