Loving What Is
Four Questions That Can Change Your Life
Byron
Katie
Brief Description of the Book
Byron Katie in Loving What Is discusses
how to achieve the freedom from suffering through ‘The Work’. The Work is
simply four questions that, when applied to a specific problem, enable you to
see what is troubling you in an entirely different light. As Katie says, “It’s
not the problem that causes our suffering; it’s our thinking about the
problem.” Contrary to popular belief, trying to let go of a painful thought
never works; instead, once we have done The Work, the thought lets go of us. At
that point, we can truly love what is, just as it is.
(From Amazon.in)
Notable Ideas of the Book
Learn how to conquer stress and unhappiness and
live a more fulfilling life. Are you stressed? Or unhappy with your life? Many
people are, and unfortunately, most are resigned to living a stressful life –
as there is apparently no alternative.
Yet there are alternatives! All we need to do is
approach what stresses us in the correct way. “The Work,” is a straightforward
method for tackling life’s many stresses. Overcome stress by understanding and
mastering your own thoughts.
Stress isn't caused by events or people, but by our
interpretation of events or the actions of people around us. Stress originates
from our thoughts, so we need to change our thoughts. This is where “The Work”
comes in.
First step is to start writing down the thoughts
that are troubling you. Next, analyze your written thoughts by asking yourself
four simple questions.
1. Is this thought true?
2. Can I be absolutely sure of its truth?
3. How does this thought make me react?
4. Without this thought, who would I be?
The answers to these four questions will give you a
deeper understanding of your negative thoughts, so you can move on to positive ones.
We can learn a lot about ourselves and our feelings by turning stressful
thoughts around.
After we’ve answered The Work’s four questions, we
should have a better understanding of the thoughts that are bringing us down.
Now, it's time for the Turnaround. The Turnaround
is the last step of The Work. It's where we focus on turning our thoughts
around to discover deeper truths about ourselves. We try approaching our
problems from a different angle.
We should now approach this new thought with the same
four questions from The Work. We'll surely gain new insight into our dilemma
when we closely inspect the inverse of our original thoughts. We'll have
different feelings and reactions to the new thoughts and all other
possibilities which come with it– carefully consider all of them.
We should follow the thoughts that are right for us.
Follow what feels true. The Work presents us with options – it doesn't give a
straightforward solution.
Don't stress over things you can't change – focus
on what you can change instead. We can't change reality by being frustrated
about it. Stress only makes us angry, disappointed and powerless. The key to
achieving happiness isn't changing reality, but finding our true place in the
realities we can't change.
We will fail if we try to solve the world's
problems on our own. We'll just get angry which might motivate us, but it also
might make us run into walls. Better yet, be confident about the little changes
you can enact. We feel better when we can make a difference, even in a small
way.
The Work might seem too simple to help with life’s
major problems. But that is not true. The Work can help in all areas of your
life: friendship, love, work or anything else.
When we apply The Work to all aspects of our life, you might discover that you've been suffering for nothing. Sometimes the thoughts troubling us aren't obvious, and sometimes they're so obvious that we don't even realize that they’re the ones causing the problem. The Work is surely a way to help us find our true path.
Loving What Is will show you step-by-step, through clear and vivid
examples, exactly how to use this revolutionary process for yourself. The
questioning flows into every aspect of your life, effortlessly undoing the
stressful thoughts that keep you from experiencing peace. Loving What
Is offers everything you need to learn and live this remarkable
process, and to find happiness as what Katie calls “a lover of reality.”
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