As Swami Vivekananda once said, "We are what our thoughts have made us; so take care about what you think." This notion is one that can be truly applied to my situation and to what Tolle teaches about the pain body -- if we think it, we feel it, and this is true for pain, happiness, contentment, self-confidence etc. For years I dwelled on the stress of bad situations, which affected my life for the worse. Today, I think positively of myself and others, which has brought me noting but contentment in my life and in myself. As a teenager, a mentor, upon seeing my stress and interactions with bullies told me that the only person capable of dictating my life was I. While I had known this should be the case, I had never truly applied this idea to my own life, choosing instead to let my bullies shape the way my life was led. In understanding this, I was able to break free of the hold these negative individuals had on me, and really begin to live my own life, following the idea that "to forgive is to overlook, or rather to look through," as Tolle describes, continuing, "you look through the ego to the sanity that is in every human being as his or her essence" (Tolle 7). I understood that the negativity that so many people bring into their daily lives and to their interactions come from nothing but a full focus on one's pain body and an ignorance to all that exists outside of this personal cage. In coming to this realization, I was able to get away from this hold and find my true self -- the person I wanted to be, that did not allow negative forces to stress me out or shape my life.

Additionally, in understanding that the negative forces...

Tolle notes, "How you react to people and situations, especially when challenges arise, is the best indicator of how deeply you know yourself" (Tolle 34). Such a notion has proven to be significantly true, especially in my own life and in the way I strive to handle myself in the future. Now, I know myself, and I don't doubt what my instincts tell me.
Every individual on this earth understands the fact that life is not easy, but is full of ups and downs. In my own life, coming to terms with the fact that certain people will act a certain way no matter what circumstance is placed in front of them is a reality that I have learned to accept. A bully telling me as a child that I didn't fit in with the other children did not make it true. These comments had nothing to do with my true character, but rather how I chose to respond to these comments shaped my character -- one that is now confident and strong. In understanding to separate my personal feelings from the negative comments of others, I have been able to live my life in a way that allows me to understand that the life I lead is in fact -- mine -- and no one else's. Therefore the actions of others, especially the negative actions that once affected me, are now minimal in my own life, as I have chosen to ignore them, allowing my pain body to remain free of additional stress and worry.