Morally labeling things is a one-way ticket to emotional fragility.
Because moral labels are absolute and one-sided, whenever someone does something that isn’t congruent with the label, we’ll react accordingly.
Here’s an example: let’s say you label “spilling coffee” as a bad thing. Because it has that label, whenever it happens, you’re going to be unhappy about it. It’s an unavoidable result of the label you’ve given it.
But if you take a moment to see the event in its entirety, you’ll realize that spilling coffee isn’t entirely bad. Maybe it gives you a chance to get up and take a break from what you’re doing. Maybe it will prompt you to finally get around to cleaning whatever had coffee spilled on it. Maybe you’ll have a great conversation on the way to getting more coffee.
Understanding this duality is the key to living a life where YOU are in charge of your emotions…and not your coffee.
