excerpt from: Discontent Is This All There Is??? You feel bored or restless You have a hard time motivating yourself You have doubts about yourself You can’t make decisions You feel resentment that you can’t express, or you complain a lot You wish you were somewhere else You wish you were someone else Do you have a lot you believe you should feel grateful for and yet you’re feeling disenchanted? With news footage of Katrina, Tsunamis, and war victims, many people feel selfish and ungrateful for feeling discontented.  But we can’t figure out what’s going on underneath when feelings of badness and selfishness are layered over the original problem. So, first, listen to the feelings you have about your feelings. Then, stop criticizing and insulting yourself. It doesn’t help. Instead, become curious. Sporadic feelings of frustration or discontent are, of course, human. We are supposed to feel sad about loss, angry at injustice, or embarrassed about our transgressions. Discontent also has a purpose. Discontent and mild anxiety exist to function as motivators. These feelings are meant to propel us toward goals. Ambition and an itch to make something happen should be the result - then the discontent is relieved. But when negative emotions about ourselves, others, the world, or our future are ongoing and dull our energy, something else is going on. Think of discontent as a communication from inside that there are things that need addressing. The feelings underneath are always profound. The things that seem trivial but annoying are the tip of an iceberg - encoded messages from deep inside yourself. Why Am I So Negative? In the Pasadena area, please call if you'd like the full text of this publication mailed to you                                                                         back home