Were we born to suffer? William Wordsworth seemed to think so when he wrote: “Suffering is permanent, obscure and dark. And shares the nature of infinity.” Indeed, ignorance in centuries past doomed many people to perpetual suffering. Much physical suffering has been … [Read more...] about Why Our Emotional Suffering Persists
Search Results for: inner passivity
Wallowing in the Lap of Bitterness
Bitterness is rat poison we feed our memories. It’s the tedious self-torture of desolation row. Bitterness cavorts with evil. It causes people to disown their children or to seek revenge, while it sends others off on maniacal shooting rampages. It shatters the political unity … [Read more...] about Wallowing in the Lap of Bitterness
The Futile Dialogue in Our Head
Our mind is often the stage for the acting out of a recurring dialogue between two conflicting parts of our psyche. In people with mental disorders, one of these voices—inner aggression—can take over or “possess” the consciousness of these individuals and command them to commit … [Read more...] about The Futile Dialogue in Our Head
The Private Joke behind Our Laughter
Insight is a good thing, and insight into where our laughter comes from not only can spare us a lot of misery but is worth a laugh in itself. Still, as one witty writer said, “Analyzing humor is like dissecting a frog. Few people are interested and the frog dies of it.” Despite … [Read more...] about The Private Joke behind Our Laughter
How Deeper Insight Relieves Stress
As I sit at my desk writing about stress, I can feel some tension stirring in my body. Outside my home office where I write, construction workers are noisily building a new house. Work will go on next door for a few more months. No doubt I’ll feel the nuisance of the noise at … [Read more...] about How Deeper Insight Relieves Stress