Inside

I was thinking about Halloween and all the dark stuff that comes with it and why some people get scared and others have fun while others feel the need to dress up, especially the girls, like something that they are not.  It got me thinking about the Day of the Dead celebrations and how one thing can mean so many different things to so many people.  We can all be at an event, a concert, a sporting event, or a movie and see the same thing and experience it in a billion different ways.  I could leave the event with many different thoughts, feelings, and impressions of what I just saw.  When the Yanks lost this year I was crushed while other fans go about like whatever.  All of these things are outside events that effect my inside feelings.  They have an impact but they are not overall states of being.  They pass very quickly.  I was upset and down for a day or so but life is too much fun to sit with those feelings for too long.  Happiness or unhappiness are not contained in the event alone.  To people in New England that harassed me when the Yankees finally lost they were happy about the same event that I was sad about it.  Same event, two different outcomes.  People get very lost in the idea that there are no differences in this.  In the media it is all black or white, this way or that way, us or them.  I think what is important is the happiness that is within you that cannot be changed by external events.  Sure they can impact them for awhile but what lasts more days than not is how you actually may feel.  Some people are afraid to feel as I was for such a long time.  Alot of people I am in contact with take substances on a daily basis in some form or another as in America we are all junkies for something, especially caffeine and alcohol.  When you ask people why it is this way it is a response of I cannot function without it or I have to have it to wake me up which are not even close to true statements.  I don't know anybody that would die without any substance other than alcohol, cause that one can kill you from withdrawal, but this is the typical response.  But those statements are beliefs not facts.  Those beliefs prevent people from being healthier, or finding happiness, or changing their own lives for the better.  Many people hide behind the impossible or the can't statement.  Those are inside issues.  I am a believer that anybody can do anything.  That has been my experience and I am privileged enough to witness people overcoming odds everyday.  For every action there is a reaction that is in accord with the action.  If you think you cannot do something you wont even try.  If you change the thinking you would be surprised what you can do.  These are inside things.  Feelings that you cant find or wont find happiness because of how life "treats" you.  Action.  Words mean nothing without the action behind them.