A choice of meanings

[Thad]

We're often exhorted to "find the opportunity" in moments of
stimulation we may not want. I am happier when I believe that I have
created an opportunity by assigning optimistic possibilities to an
otherwise ambiguous stimulus. Every stimulus is ambiguous to me until
I interpret it using a belief, a.k.a. cognitive association.

A undulation of the earth's crust may be designated "earthquake", or
"after shock". I might use another belief and call such an event the
logical consequence of a "pact with the devil". Then again, I might
designate it an opportunity for pitching in with volunteer efforts and/
or charitable contributions aimed at assisting people displaced by it.

So too, ugliness and tragedy are beliefs, conclusions I may associate
with selected stimuli. Then again, I can "drop" ugly or tragic
beliefs, choosing instead to make other associations in any moment of
stimulation. Then I empower in myself altogether different feeling and
behavior possibilities.

Ta ta, y'all,
Thad