What Did You Do With Jill?Jill Whalen's healthy lifestyle transformation                                               

[Jill’s Note: If you prefer to listen rather than read, please scroll to the bottom of this post for the audio version. There’s also a corresponding video.]

If you’ve read any of my blog posts, you know I write about how it’s our thoughts that create our entire experience of life. In other words, as much as it appears that other people and situations cause us to feel how we feel–they don’t. The way we feel in any given moment is always and only a factor of whatever thoughts happen to pop in our heads at that time.

You don’t have to believe me, but…

This is the “One Truth” of how the world works.

Unfortunately, even though this is an actual truth, if you don’t believe it–you’re not alone. Most people don’t see the world this way.

Yet, ironically, it’s the most important thing we can ever learn!

Therefore, I’d love for you to see the truth of this for yourself.

So today I’m explaining it in a slightly different way than I have in the past. And if you’ve previously had trouble grasping the concept, perhaps this new explanation will make more sense.

The One Truth Explanation

Let’s call our usual, old-fashioned way of viewing the world–where people and situations can cause us pain, joy, sadness, anxiety, etc.–as the “Outside-In” way.

And we’ll call our new-fashioned way of seeing the world as the “Inside-Out” way.

Even though we’re calling the Inside-Out way, new-fashioned, it’s important to remember that while it may sound new because it’s different to how we always thought things worked, it’s actually how they have always worked.

Therefore, this One Truth is as old as time.

Think of it like back in the old days, when we learned that the world was round, not flat. While the information on its roundness was new, the world itself didn’t suddenly change from flat to round.

It had always been that way.

And just as many didn’t believe the “new” truth about the world’s roundness at first (because by all accounts, it certainly didn’t seem round!), many do not believe the “new” truth of the Inside-Out nature of life at first, either. However, for the purposes of this blog post, let’s suspend all disbelief and go with the notion that the world has ALWAYS and ONLY been Inside-Out regardless of how it looks on the surface.

Let’s also go with the idea that it can’t be any other way.

Just like the world can’t be round and flat at the same time, it also can’t be both Inside-Out and Outside-In at the same time. In other words, we can’t live in a world where thought in the moment creates our feelings and experiences in certain situations, but not in others.

It’s either all thought, or it’s not.

If you’re curious why this matters, it’s because living in an Inside-Out world has very different implications than living in an Outside-In world.

For instance, in our actual Inside-Out world, whatever happens to be happening in any given moment, has no particular power over us.

Which is great news!

This means that no object, phenomenon, situation, person, place, animal, job, relationship, etc., can, in and of itself, create feelings inside of us. They cannot make us stressed, angry, sad, anxious or anything else.

They simply have no power to do so.

But when we mistakenly believe we live in an outside-in world, we are at the mercy of whatever is happening around us. Therefore, we manufacture many rules, techniques and processes designed to protect us from it.

For instance we might believe any or all of the following:

“In order for me to be okay, when he says THAT, I must say THIS in return.”

“Every time THAT happens, I have to tell myself THIS in order to feel better.”

“I need to avoid THIS situation, because it makes me feel THAT way.”

But, you see, all those techniques are based on the belief that the world works Outside-In, i.e., that other people, places and things can create an experience inside of us.

They absolutely 100% CANNOT.

Therefore, those processes we’ve created, don’t apply. They are designed for an Outside-In world.

One in which we don’t actually live.

In the real world–people, places and things have absolutely NO power to create experiences inside of us. Nor can they make us feel any particular way.

This is the direction in which we need to look.

Always.

Please note that I’m not asking anyone to take my word for it. That won’t help in the least. It’s super easy to see the truth of the inside-out nature of life, once it’s been brought to our attention. Just look around very carefully at the world and see it for yourself.

There is evidence all around us, every minute of the day!

The only problem is…none of this is obvious, until it’s pointed out.

On the surface, the world totally looks Outside-In.

But as soon as we start to insightfully see the role that “thought in the moment” plays in our experience of life, it’s a game changer.

Be aware that because this is such a foreign idea for most of us, it is often like a game of peek-a-boo when we first start to catch a glimpse. We’ll see the true nature of the world for a little while, then lose it again. Then see it again, then lose it.

This is completely normal.

Even though I’ve been looking towards the inside-out nature of life for over four years, the world still looks outside-in to me most of the time. I often get caught up in the mistaken belief that the people I’m dealing with and the situations that are happening, are the cause of my feelings.

BUT…

Something in me KNOWS that can’t be true, however.

And somehow that is helpful.

–Jill

You may also be interested in this corresponding video:

Prefer listening? Click the green arrow below!

Jill Whalen

CONTACT JILL WHALEN to learn how she may help you be the best you can be.

Jill is the author of Victim of Thought: Seeing Through the Illusion of Anxiety

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For the past 20 years, Jill has consulted with companies big and small, and spoken at conferences all over the world. She is currently a transformational speaker and mentor to businesses, individuals, coaches, leaders, groups and organizations. She helps them uncover their natural well-being and happiness so that they can operate from a clearer state of mind and take their lives and businesses to a higher level.

Jill's blog, What Did You Do With Jill? is a personal account of what she's learned throughout her transformational journey. Jill has many "viral" articles on LinkedIn and is a contributing writer for P.S. I Love You.

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