How do you label your experiences? Can you even see that you’re labelling them at all?

How do you decide what kind of experiences you label as welcome and unwelcome, acceptable and to-be-avoided-at-all-costs?

And which labels do you give to joy, calm, fear, surprise, confusion, anxiety, delight, guilt, shame, love, uncertainty?

Most importantly, can you see that the particular categories you have become used to are only one possibility? That your categories are not fixed truths, but are something you’ve been taught or have taught yourself over time, and solidified through years of practice?

If you were prepared to loosen your certainty about all of this, you might find that the experiences you’re most dedicated to avoiding hold hidden treasures and possibilities. Which, as long as you’re avoiding them, will never be revealed.

Photo Credit: Jeff Kubina via Compfight cc