When you are constantly anxious, your life is all anxiety.
When you are sad most of the time, your life is all about sadness.
When you are always angry, your life is only anger.
We all have a dominant emotion we go back to as “home.” It’s part of our conditioning. That's why the same event can trigger anxiety in one person, sadness in another, anger in a third, and so on. It all comes down to your usual interpretation of what happens to you.
Flip the Script: How the Stories You Tell Yourself Define Your Life
The quality of your life is the quality of your emotions.-- Tony Robbins (more quotes)
Take the above cases as examples. If you are someone who is generally prone to laying the blame on yourself, you’re likely to feel sad or anxious (“What have I done to upset him”?). If you're someone who is more inclined to place the blame on other people, you will generally get angry (“What’s wrong with him!”).
So your life is not so much dependent on what you are going through, as much as it is on the way you are experiencing what happens to you, based on the stories you are telling yourself.
But you are not your stories.
Most of your thoughts are repetitive ones, and they say more about your conditioning and past than about you or your current reality. It’s the filter you are using to make sense of things in life -- your “usual stories.” And you believe them, notably because your emotions and reality seem to prove them right.
For your thoughts, emotions and actions influence and reinforce each other. They can form a virtuous or negative cycle. If you think that you suck at your job, guess what? You will. Why? Because by believing so, you will focus on what is going wrong, and will therefore experience so-called “negative” emotions that will inevitably hamper your performance, which will then reinforce your initial belief. Your distorted perception of reality creates a reality that conforms to your perception.
If you think differently, you are bound to feel and act differently. But if you let outside events impact your thoughts, and hence your emotions, you become like a drifting boat in a raging sea. You RE-ACT to the event, instead of CHOOSING consciously your response.
Does it mean you have to fight your thoughts and emotions?
No, quite the contrary -- for what you resist, persists.
The hidden gifts of emotions
Emotion in itself is not unhappiness. Only emotion plus an unhappy story is unhappiness.-- Eckhart Tolle.
You need to accept your emotions for what they are: passing clouds in the eternal sky. Everyone has thoughts and emotions, but what is not so well known is that they can also have us. And that’s when we IDENTIFY with them. That’s when we forget that we are the sky.
The truth is that emotions are neither good nor bad in themselves, as Eckhart Tolle says. Emotions are your god-sent messengers: they are symptoms that are meant to keep you healthy by informing you of some disease.
And most importantly, emotions are your change agents.
Emotion is the chief source of all becoming-conscious. There can be no transforming of darkness into light and of apathy into movement without emotion.-- Carl G. Jung.
So why is this all so important?
Simply because your life is the result of your decisions -- whether they are made consciously or unconsciously. And even the act of not making a decision is a decision.
It is in your moments of decision that your destiny is shaped.-- Tony Robbins
You cannot determine life events – they are a given – but you are not defined by them either. The proof is that people faced with similar tragedies have often shaped themselves very different destinies. This was done through the decisions they made.
Becoming more conscious empowers you with the ability to choose your response to any given set of circumstances; to choose your life rather than undergo it helplessly. It’s the only way your future can be different from your past. For as Carl Jung reminds us:
I am not what happened to me, I am what I choose to become.-- Carl Jung
Military Dad Defends His 4 Little Daughters When Strangers Make This Rude Remark
Military Dad of 4 Daughters Defends His Girls When Strangers Make This Rude Remark
Austin von Letkemann is the military officer strangers feel "sorry" for — and the reason is infuriating.
Whenever the devoted father leaves the house with his four children, strangers can't help but notice the officer in uniform is holding hands with 4 adorable little girls. They will tell the traditionally "masculine" and "all American" dad they feel sorry for him, because he has no sons. This dad makes one thing very clear: They are his daughters, they aren't a burden.
In a passionate video, von Letkemann took to Instagram to share with his followers that the only thing that's "difficult" about being a girl dad — is clapping back to these sexist remarks over and over again.
They Mock His Daughters To Their Face
When strangers approach Austin von Letkemann and his four daughters, they don't always realize that their comments are being overheard. They seem oblivious to the fact that his girls understand every word. Von Letkemann describes how people will approach him and, without thinking, make remarks like "I'm sorry" or even joke about his lack of sons. What they don't realize is that these comments, intended to be light-hearted or humorous, can be deeply hurtful to his daughters. These strangers are not just disrespecting von Letkemann's choices as a father; they're also sending a message to his daughters that their presence is something to be pitied. It’s a message that von Letkemann won't stand for, and he's speaking out to defend his girls from these insensitive remarksSaying "Get Your Shotgun" Isn't Funny — It's Sexist
Another common comment that Austin von Letkemann encounters is the old "better get your shotgun ready" trope, often delivered with a smirk or a wink. This line is typically intended to suggest that a father with daughters should be on high alert to protect them from potential "suitors," implying that they are objects to be guarded rather than individuals with agency.
Von Letkemann finds this line of thinking outdated and sexist. In his viral Instagram video, he points out that these jokes are not just stale — they're damaging.
By suggesting that his daughters require armed protection, the joke reinforces the idea that women are inherently vulnerable and need to be shielded from men. Von Letkemann argues that instead of promoting this narrative, society should focus on teaching respect and consent, challenging these sexist tropes at their source.
Watch Austin von Letkemann's Video:
"If I Had A Fifth Child, I'd HOPE It Was A Girl" — One Dad's Message For Other Parents
Despite the constant remarks about his lack of sons, Austin von Letkemann is clear: He wouldn't trade his daughters for anything.
In fact, he told his Instagram followers that if he were to have a fifth child, he would hope for another girl. This declaration isn't just about doubling down on his pride in his family — it's a pointed response to those who see fathering daughters as a misfortune.
Von Letkemann's stance is a powerful one, rejecting the notion that a family is incomplete without sons. He encourages others to question the assumptions behind these comments and to appreciate the joy and fulfillment that his daughters bring. By sharing his story, von Letkemann hopes to create a more inclusive perspective on fatherhood, one that values daughters just as much as sons.