If we endeavor to become secure in our purpose in life, we will finally be able to relate properly to the external world.
There are many things happening in life — things are changing all around us. Which of these events are significant and which of them are just background noise? If we are getting hung up on things that don’t matter, that can cause a lot of needless stress and anxiety.
If we want to be happy more often, we need to become better at identifying the important interactions so that we can devote our energy to those and avoid wasting resources on things that have no impact on our goals. That is where mindfulness comes in.
When we are noting what is happening we can examine each interaction for what it is and make a determination of whether it is worth more of our attention. As we grow accustomed to our new tool, we will find that we no longer need to agonize over difficult memories. We cannot go back and change the past so, once we have acknowledged the memory, worry about it further is not worth our time.
Instead, we can devote our time to achieving our spiritual goals, which means developing our capacity for happiness from the inside. When we do this not only do we enjoy life without the need for constant external validation but we also begin to have more positive interactions. Insight meditation, therefore, sets us on a path to becoming totally whole.