Sierra's View: I (We?) Choose.

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Wednesday, February 1, 2012

I (We?) Choose.

"The key to overcoming a spirit of anger and contention, then, is to overcome selfishness and practice patience—to try to infuse empathy and compassion into our relationships. One of the challenges of mortality is learning to govern ourselves, to actively cultivate positive, healthy emotions and eliminate negative ones. This is an essential part of growing in spirituality."


"A man can rather accurately be measured, it has been said, by the size of a thing that makes him angry." 


Thus, instead of blaming events or the people around us for our anger, we should remember that no one else can “make” us angry. We make ourselves angry. What others say and do is usually a part of the equation, but anger cannot arise without our contribution. I find this a very freeing idea. As long as we decide our own emotions, we can change and control them. We are ultimately responsible for our own angerFor us to feel emotion, we must first be aware of some stimulus—an event, a thought, a memory. Then we interpret that stimulus—and that’s when the emotional response comes. Our emotion rises out of the interpretation we give rather than from the stimulus itself (the experience, the thought). 
BURTON C. KELLY


"Anger doesn’t solve anything. It builds nothing, but it can destroy everything."

"No one can make us angry. It is our choice. If we desire to have a proper spirit with us at all times, we must choose to refrain from becoming angry."

This is a much better feeling, don't you agree?
P.S. That's me...laughing...if you didn't catch that. 

9 comments:

  1. love it Sierra, something that I could totally work on!

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  2. i love all of these quotes, so very perfect! and something that i really needed to read today.
    xo TJ

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  3. Wow. I love that quote by Watts! I've never thought of it like that before! Great post!

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  4. love watt's quote, too. i love the laughing stance.

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  5. I love these quotes!

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    1. Thank you! They have helped me a ton recently. Thanks for stopping by! Become a follower! xoxo.

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  6. These are some great quotes, thanks so much for sharing!! I want to thank you too, for the comment the other day on my post about change, you are awesome!! Thanks so much for taking the time to read! :)

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  7. very inspiring! Thanks for sharing. The quote by Watts is so interesting to think about. so true. xoxo

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    1. Isn't it? I read it and was smacked across the face (metaphorically speaking, of course!)
      Thanks for stopping by and reading. Become a follower!
      I follow and love your blog!
      xoxo,
      Sierra

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