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by yamrzou 2460 days ago
Great post, with a lot of helpful advice.

I particularly found this point of view interesting, would love to hear some examples of it:

> Moreover, I believe that choosing to feel something can make you feel that way even if the feeling is artificially manufactured. What I mean by this is that when someone asks us to label how we feel, the label we select is based on how we physically feel at the moment. But what if you said the exact opposite of how you actually felt? Is it possible the re-labeling could become reality? This seems absurd on the face of it, but my experience has been that re-labeling works and causes an actual physical response.

2 comments

The reverse (physical response > action) certainly seems true. - if you sit and smile for 2 minutes straight, you're more likely to feel at least a little better.

We're all in some kind of delusion as our storytelling minds build up the world around us (and us in it). I believe the author is referring to crafting our delusions in some intentional way (although I don't have great examples myself of this working).

If you are happy, you smile. But also, try to smile if you are not happy, it works both ways. Your mind projects itself in the body, but by controlling the body, you can influence the mind. With this said, I can imagine how re-labeling can actually have physical response.
I love doing something similar with my small kids (4 and 2). I start laughing for no reason and when they see me laughing they start laughing. We laugh and have good time without any reason until we get tired. I also remember seeing some festival in India on TV. Everyone is laughing and having good time, for no reason.
Yes, with kids that works nice. Sometimes they are upset so I start to laugh for no reason until they cannot hold it anymore and start laughing as well. Well, sometimes they get even more upset, so use with caution.