HOW TO
FEEL BETTER
INSTANTLY
WITHOUT YEARS
OF THERAPY
Our minds do not relate to reality directly. Instead, we interpret
reality through a variety of internal prisms and filters, or internal rep-
resentations. We constructed these representations from our past ex-
perience and from conclusions we reached, as well as from what
people told us about life and about ourselves. In many cases, the inter-
nal representations that you use to interpret reality are not conducive
to your maximum effectiveness, happiness, and resourcefulness. Why?
Some were constructed during childhood, when your power and au-
thority were limited by the constraints of other people who controlled
your life back then. Also, some of the important internal representa-
tions that shape your behaviors and outlook were constructed in re-
sponse to a crisis. Even though the crisis is over, the one-time intensity
of the associated emotion tends to hold your conclusion in place. It is
as if some part of your mind believes that the conclusions made from
a past emergency situation are necessary for survival.
Information reaches our mind through our five senses:1.Seeing
2.Hearing
3.Kinesthetic (feeling)
4.Tasting
5.Smelling263Appendix
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