But if you had caught me in a quiet moment, when all those other stimuli
weren’t bombarding me, I would have responded in a completely different
manner: Something’s not right. I feel unsettled. Everything feels like the
same old, same old. Something is missing.
On the day I recognized the core reason for my unhappiness, I also
realized that I needed the external world to remember who I was. My
identity had become the people I talked to, the cities I visited, the things I
did while I was traveling, and the experiences I needed in order to reaffirm
myself as this person called Joe Dispenza. And when I wasn’t around
anyone who could help me recall this personality that the world might know
as me, I wasn’t sure who I was anymore. In fact, I saw that all of my
perceived happiness was really just a reaction to stimuli in the external
world that made me feel certain ways. I then understood that I was totally
addicted to my environment, and I was dependent on external cues to
reinforce my emotional addiction. What a moment for me. I had heard a
million times that happiness comes from within, but it never hit me like this
before.
As I sat on the couch in my house that day, I looked out the window and
an image came to me. I envisioned my two hands, one above the other,
separated by a gap.
HOW WE APPEAR
- The identity I project to the outer environment
- Who I want you to think I am
- The facade
- Who I want you to think I am
- Ideal for the world
WHO WE REALLY ARE
- How I feel
- Who I really am