Once we believe that the �perfect� circumstances would make us happiest, we unconsciously conclude that failure to achieve the �perfect� circumstances would result

in suffering, or at least less happiness.

Throughout our lives we develop many concepts about what is �perfect� or �ideal�, and, therefore, many beliefs about what is �bad� or �not good enough�. 320

Psychological thoughts are the ones that decide whether something is �good� or �bad�, and these are the thoughts that create our suffering. 483

For simplicity, our psychological thoughts are nearly all of our thoughts that have opposites. 484

This is because if a thought has an opposite, then we will almost certainly 484

Functional thoughts are mostly answers to the question �How do I do that?� 488

stop experiencing anxiety about the future, 944

then all that�s necessary is to stop believing the thoughts that create these emotions. 944

All these emotions are created purely by thoughts in your mind and not by anything about you, your circumstances, or the people in your life. 945

Each question will show you a different reason why a specific type of thought might not be true. 992

He is filled with anxiety, constantly thinking, �What if I don�t get the job? How will I come across in the interview? What if they aren�t impressed?� 1045

How do I feel when I think this thought or tell myself this story? 1055

If no �bad� circumstance is actually happening right now but yet I can create an emotion (stress) right now just by thinking, then can I admit that thoughts have created my emotion rather than circumstances? 1057

Can I think of a few possible �bad� effects of getting the outcome I want? 1062

I can�t know for sure that I will like it 1063

Do I know with absolute certainty that this outcome would be �bad� for my life? Can I think of a few possible �good� effects from getting the outcome I don�t want? 1066

While I do really want to get this job offer, the truth is that I don�t know that this job would be best for me or make me happiest. 1071

In general, the more attention we gave to a thought (e.g., 10% of our day), and the longer we gave it attention (e.g., two months), the longer our present moment experience will be when we disbelieve the thought. 1137

If our thought was creating a large amount of sadness, then we won�t have that sadness anymore, 1141

regardless of whether our attention is transferred to the present moment or just other thoughts. 1141

If you believed your friend, you would likely feel hurt or embarrassed. But if your friend then smiles, and you recognize that he was joking, how would this affect your emotional state? 1145

Why would this happen? It would happen solely because you stopped believing your friend's words to be true. 1146

This is the same type of emotional impact that we experience when we disbelieve a thought that 1148

was creating suffering for us. 1148

In the same way, when you experience an emotion, 1159

When you discover that you don�t know whether your thought is true, you have essentially exposed how the trick works. 1160

If we realize that we don�t know whether our thought �it would be bad if they had a negative opinion about me� is actually true, then we can finally feel free to just do and say whatever feels right and natural to us. 1179

After a few times, we often don't even need to ask ourselves any questions to disbelieve the thought because we almost instantly recognize we don't know whether the thought is true. 1196

There is no such thing as �lasting happiness�; there is only a series of 1200

single moments. So becoming happier simply means there are more frequent moments of happiness (although there are varying degrees) and fewer moments of suffering. 1201

Put differently, as we disbelieve more thoughts, there is more silence (or space) between thoughts. 1204

This process is meant to be used when your spouse or child does something �wrong� and you�re about to yell at them and start a fight. 1213

How do you feel when you think this thought? Does thinking about this story create an emotion? A moment ago you likely weren't feeling any emotion. Then, just by thinking, you began to experience an emotional reaction. 1484

If a specific event created a specific emotional experience, it would only be able to create that emotional experience while the event was actually happening. 1488

If you experience an emotional reaction right now, it must have been created by something that�s going on right now. 1491

Since you were giving attention to thoughts, your emotion must be a direct reaction to the thoughts you just had, not any circumstance or event. 1491

In the same way, since thoughts can create an emotion right now just from thinking about a past event, we know that thoughts alone are creating our emotion. 1497

The emotion can only be created by a thought. If you think about taking a shower next week, could this make your hair wet right now? No. 1499

Could I or someone else be happy despite having the same factual 1514

However, in order to claim that a specific circumstance creates a specific experience, it must always create that same experience, for every person, every time. 1517

If a performance review at work created anxiety, then everyone would always experience anxiety before their reviews. 1525

If two people each live in the same sized one-bedroom apartment, one person could be proud about their living situation and the other could be ashamed about it. 1529

If two people are called �ugly�, one person could get very upset, while the other could laugh it off. 1530

Regardless of what the circumstance is, and regardless of whether the circumstance is happening now or in 1557

the past, it can only be our thoughts about the circumstance that create our emotions. 1558

Could someone else be happy despite having the same circumstance? Have I ever been happy, or experienced a different emotion, under the same conditions? 1560

If I didn�t know that the event had happened, would I still be suffering? 1565

While it seems that circumstances directly create our emotions, we actually can�t experience an emotion unless our minds know about the circumstance. 1573

Would I be suffering if I didn�t know the event happened? 1585

If the circumstance wouldn�t have created an emotion without my mind knowing what happened (thoughts), then can I admit that the circumstance itself 1585

doesn�t have the power to create my emotion? If my thoughts can create my emotion with no event happening now (e.g., thinking about past or future), but an event can�t create an emotion without my thoughts (mind knowing what happened), then can I admit that my thoughts have created my suffering, and not a circumstance? 1586

If our �bad� circumstance still exists, but yet we can make ourselves happy purely by distracting ourselves from our negative thoughts, then it must be our thoughts that are creating our unhappiness. 1606

The only facts were the words �get out of my way�. 1627

Our emotion is created by the concept (thought), not by the facts. 1633

However, uncertainty about the future doesn�t create anxiety. Anxiety is created by the belief that a �bad� outcome is possible. 1822

If we disbelieve our thought, recognizing �I don�t know if it�s true that my boyfriend doesn�t care about me anymore�, then we would no longer feel sad. 1827

Therefore, if you ever find that disbelieving a thought has created anxiety for you, all you need to do is ask yourself the question �What outcome do I think would be bad?� 1830

whether you actually know this 1832

future outcome �would be bad�. 1832

In order to stop suffering from future �bad� moments, we can take a step back and question whether we actually know that the future �bad� event or situation will happen. 2329