Brooke,
When you say that if you are experiencing half of your life as very uncomfortable, you are doing it right, do you mean that the choosing to have a 50/50 balance of positive and negative emotions is ideal?

I’m a little confused because sometimes I hear you say things that lead me to believe we should accept that our life will be half full of uncomfortable emotions because this sets us free from suffering. (To me, this sounds like the amount we experience uncomfortable emotions is out of our control; in other words, over the course of a lifetime, the reality is that half will be negative.)

I also hear you say that we can decide how we want to feel by choosing what we want to think. What if a person wants to feel positive emotions 75% of the time and negative emotions 25 percent of the time because this ratio serves them in their life? Would you say that person isn’t choosing to grow as much as they possibly could because discomfort is the price of growth? If a person really wants to grow, why wouldn’t it be idea for them to allow/feel negative emotions a higher percent of the time?

When you say 50/50, do you just mean we should be striving for balance (rather than just to feel good)? Could you elaborate more on this 50/50 idea and help me understand how you live it?

It seems to me that when we are deliberate about allowing/choosing negative emotions, they are not nearly as negative. I can’t quite imagine getting to a 50/50 balance when I am managing my mind because the negative doesn’t have the same edge. In other words, I feel a sense of good while I’m feeling uncomfortable. And in this larger sense, it’s ALL good.