We may believe that if we can act just right, then our stream of feelings will always be pleasant and there will be no pain, no loss. So when a painful experience arises we often try to get rid of it, and when a pleasant experience arises we try to grasp it. When a neutral experience arises we tend to ignore it. We’re always wanting the right (pleasant) feelings and trying to avoid the wrong (painful) ones. And when they are unpleasant we react endlessly, struggling to get it right.
As we become wiser we realize that fixing the flow of feelings doesn’t work. Feelings are simply feelings, and every day consists of thousands of pleasant, painful, and neutral moments. They are the stream of life. Wisdom knows what feelings are present without being lost in them.
– Jack Kornfield
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