“When you are distressed by an external thing, it’s not the thing itself that troubles you, but only your judgment of it. And you can wipe this out at a moments notice.”
Want to share this little concept today in this blog today – Interpretation Awareness. I guess I probably shared this a while ago like back in 2019/20, but because it is so important (plus I just read a great quote on it) I gotta share this with you again.
Everything we see and experience, has no meaning in themselves.
For example, the situation of “the exam is right near the corner and you are still far behind in your studies” does not have any meaning in itself.
It is our interpretations that gives meaning to situations. Our Interpretation could be “gosh! I am so worried, what should I do?” or it could also be “great! this could be a great chance for me to learn how to work under stress and I am going to show them what I am made of“.
It is all up to us. It is not the thing that carries any meaning, but our interpretation of it.
I call this Interpretation Awareness. Develop an awareness of how you are interpreting situations, and improve them.
Read this quote from Marcus Aurelius the other day:
“When you are distressed by an external thing, it’s not the thing itself that troubles you, but only your judgment of it. And you can wipe this out at a moments notice.”
This is immense power. Most people could not even imagine putting a positive spin on “seemingly negative” things. They think what it is is what it is, and if other people think that the thing is bad, then it has to be bad, there is no question about it. You on the other hand, from this day onwards, now knows that it is not the thing that is in itself bad, but just the general public’s interpretation of it is bad. There is no good and bad in things themselves. This gives you power to look at things in angles that most people could not, and this is power, pure, power.
Hope this helps. This little concept has helped me more than anything else probably in my own life, and now it is yours to take as well.
You might think this is radical, some people may. But to me, this is truth, this is truly what is happening out there.
Ryan