What You Feel Can Kill or Heal.
You may have entered this letter at a point that isn’t the beginning.
If you landed here directly, please start at the beginning.
. . .
Why are we always trying to improve our lives? Why are we constantly chasing the next better thing — more money, more recognition, deeper faith?
Because we are always in pursuit of something that makes us feel good.
But why is that? Why can’t we simply remain neutral, unmoved, and just be?
The answer lies in our survival instinct, embedded deep in our DNA. We all know — intuitively and scientifically — that sensations and feelings such as stress, depression, grief, hatred, or chronic anger place an enormous burden on our nervous and immune systems. The consequences can range from relatively mild symptoms — frequent drops in immunity, swollen lymph nodes, sudden outbursts of anger that lead to self-destruction or damaged relationships — to severe outcomes such as strokes or heart attacks.
The opposite is also true.
When we are at peace, in love, fulfilled, satisfied, or genuinely amazed by life, our bodies respond in kind. This is not esoteric thinking; it is scientifically documented. Women who experience lower levels of chronic stress tend to age more gracefully, with fewer wrinkles and fewer chronic pain conditions. Men who successfully reduce stress often live longer and with higher quality of life. Reducing emotional stress — feelings and sensations — alongside physical stress — such as avoiding excessive alcohol, smoking, and maintaining physical activity — has profoundly positive effects on a person’s overall health.
What you feel, and what you do about what you feel, places you on very different paths — paths that will lead to more or fewer reinforcing sensations and emotions down the line. Making the right decisions is not just philosophical; it is vital to your health.
Our survival instinct demands not only that we live, but that we live longer — and live well. That is why we are constantly trying to escape painful feelings. And yet, paradoxically, this very escape can lead us into traps such as alcoholism, substance abuse, or other forms of addiction. Within this context, anticipating scenarios becomes essential. When you learn to foresee how certain choices will make you feel — and what those feelings will generate next — you gain something rare and powerful: the ability to intervene before damage is done.
Of course, feelings alone do not cure diseases. But feelings can certainly cause them. That is why doctors repeat the same advice over and over again: sleep well, eat well, and exercise. The correlation between these habits and feeling good is enormous. Together, they prevent illness by keeping your system — your biological vehicle — well lubricated and properly functioning.
A Constant Reminder and a Note on Responsibility.
Feeling is not a choice. Action is. Between feeling and acting, there is a space — and in that space lives responsibility.
Nothing in this text invites impulsive action. Every action assumes care — for yourself, for others, and for the world we all inhabit.
In practice.
I understand that this is easy to say. In moments of stress, things become far more complicated, and self-control is not always possible. But suppressing stress, by itself, is also a form of overload — and it does no good to your nervous system. So try something different.
When you feel stressed, irritated, or furious in a situation, pause before speaking or acting. Instead, identify where you feel the irritation in your body. Try to locate the physical point — or points — where the stress manifests. You can be sure they exist. It may take a moment to find them, but they are there.
Let’s say you notice the irritation in your neck, jaw, and wrists — areas that tighten or change when you are angry. Before doing or saying anything, focus exclusively on those points and deliberately force them to relax. Yes, you read that correctly: force the relaxation of those specific areas. Do nothing else. Give them your full attention.
The stressful situation will still be there, waiting for you. But what you are doing is interrupting the overload process in your nervous system and arriving at the same destination you would eventually reach anyway: calm. In simple terms, this is what happens:
- You feel irritation.
- You do not want to feel irritation.
- You deliberately relax the muscles that physically express that irritation.
- You “trick” the body into sensing relaxation instead of tension.
- Your brain responds by calming the entire nervous system.
This does not mean you will suddenly feel joyful or euphoric. Not at all. You are simply correcting yourself back to neutrality — protecting your health rather than draining it. And this is why knowing what you were made for is so important.
You now hold the tools to understand why you are the way you are, why you do what you do, and why humanity behaves the way it does. You now understand why addictions are so difficult to abandon. Our nature does not tolerate a vacuum. If we remove something that makes us feel good — even if it harms us — success depends on replacing those sensations with something equivalent or better. Otherwise, the change will not last.
This is also why social networks evolved from communication tools into addictive systems. They gained direct access to the master line of code that governs you: how you feel, and how you want to feel. Are you bored? Open the app to end the boredom.
You watch one or two videos — that should be enough.
But the sensation feels good. So you keep scrolling. And scrolling. And scrolling.
What should replace that? Only you can answer that. Only you live in your body. Only you feel what you feel. Remember?
You may not be able to choose how you feel — when you feel it, or what you feel — but you can choose to do something that will change it. That is a superpower not many people develop. And if you are not the one driving this biological vehicle of yours, rest assured — someone else is.
And speaking of someone else shaping your mind, I now invite you to a brief reflection on the idea of ASI replacing every human in every job in the near future.
