Let's look at the thought again to remind ourselves of it:

I’M IN CONTROL OF EVERYTHING I BELIEVE, THINK AND FEEL

To establish whether it is believable we need to get answers to 3 further questions:

1. What does a full list of good and bad feelings look like and are they a result of my believing and thinking? - We need a definitive list of all good and bad feelings and cross check that they are a result of what you’re believing and thinking.
2. Can anyone else, thing or circumstance cause you good and bad feelings? - Can anyone else, thing or circumstance cause you good or bad feelings?
3. My Thinking - Can good and bad feelings be caused by my thinking only without believing?

So let's get to work:

1. Definitive List

Types of good feelings

• Love
• Connection
• Belonging
• Gratitude
• Respect
• Admiration
• Security
• Prosperity

Types of bad feelings

• Hate
• Disconnection
• Loneliness and rejection
• Lack
• Disrespect
• Loathing
• Fear
• Scarcity

There will be sub categories of the above but these pretty much cover the full list of good and bad feelings. Right. Now let's make that list personal. Turning the types of good and bad feelings into thoughts that people believe the list would look like:

• I love John
• Im loved by Sarah
• Im connected to Steve
• I feel connected to Clare
• I feel a sense of belonging to my friendship group
• I am grateful for my health
• I am respected by my team
• I respect Byron
• I admire Chris
• Im admired by a few women down the local pub
• I feel safe when im in my local village
• I am rich

• I hate Steve
• Im hated by Clare
• Im disconnected to John
• I feel Sarah and I are disconnected
• I feel rejected by my friendship group
• I don't have my health
• Im disrespected by my team
• Byron disrespects me
• I loathe Chris
• The women down at the bar think im ugly and boring
• I feel unsafe when im in cities
• I am poor
• I am jealous

Now look at the list. None are facts. They are all opinions. Subjective view points. They are all thoughts that someone believes and thinks. After a while you will realise there are no facts. Only 8 billion personal perspectives. But let's stay on point!

So on question 1 it would be safe to say believing and thinking something causes good and bad feelings. But does anything else cause good and bad feelings apart from what we are believing and thinking.

2. Anyone Else, Thing or Circumstance

Anyone Else

Consider two individuals. Steve and John. Steve says to John “you're a dick” or some other derogatory phrase. Can that affect his mental joy or suffering? I would assert no. It is John's reaction (if any) to Steve's negative phrase. John has an unlimited number of reactions at his disposal depending on his character such as:

• Hostility
• Violence
• Indifference
• Pity
• Sympathy
• Love
• Curiosity

And many many more. It just depends on John. Steve does not have control of the inner workings of John's body. So it will always be John who decides what to think to then result in mental joy, suffering or indifference.

Thing

Imagine Robert proposes to his girlfriend. He buys a 5 carat diamond ring. You would think she would love the ring. But not if she considers herself unconventional and wants a 5 carat sapphire ring. Or she could love it as it's exactly what she wanted. Or she could be indifferent. She has an unlimited set of responses all at her disposal. However, it's always down to what she is thinking and believing. Not the 5 carat diamond ring.

Circumstance

Tim has an important flight to catch. He gets stuck in traffic to the airport and ultimately misses his flight. Again tim has many reactions available to him depending on his character to this circumstance:

• Frustration
• Indifference
• Annoyance
• Relief
• Laughter

It is Tims choice. So I would assert that circumstance does not affect your mental joy and suffering.

So in answer to question 2 I would say no one else, no thing or no circumstance can give you any mental joy or suffering. It is your reaction to the person, thing or circumstance. You are solely responsible.

3. My Thinking

Can thinking alone affect your mental joy and suffering. Look at this example.

Gary tells his best friend Victor that he thinks his wife doesn't love him. Victor takes on this thought. If he believes it it will probably have some reaction that will result in suffering to some degree. If he doesn't believe it he will have no reaction. It also may trigger another thought about Gary which he may believe and result in mental joy or suffering. But the key thing is belief. There has to be belief for there to be mental joy or suffering.

Let's look at the thought I proposed again:

I’M IN CONTROL OF EVERYTHING I BELIEVE, THINK AND FEEL

Do you think it's believable? I'm not asking if it is a belief of yours yet but do you think it's believable? Sit with it. If you've found a crack in this master belief email me. ajay@ahuja.co.uk I genuinely would love to hear your critique. Yes really. I’m on a journey just like you, let's not forget.