We first learnt to reject our experience when we were growing up. As children our feelings were often too overwhelming for our fledgling nervous system to handle, much less understand. So when an experience was too much, and the adults in our environment could not help us relate to it, we learnt to contract our mind and body, shutting ourselves down, like a circuit breaker. This was our way of preserving and protecting oursleves…….In time, these contractions form the nucleus of an overall style of avoidance and denial.
Thus our psychological distress is composed of at least three elements: the basic pain of feelings that seem overwhelming, the contracting of mind and body to avoid feeling this pain; and the stress of continually having to prop up and defend an identity based on this avoidance and denial.
John Welwood, Toward a Psychology of Awakening
Mindfulbalance 
Thank you for passing this on.
As Rick Hanson dictates in Buddha’s Brain; Who Am I? Has no subject. We create our ego’s from past experiences and weave them into a congruent story.
We can also remake our ego’s now, with affirmations, never saying a negative thing about ourselves and meditation/mindfulness.
Emotions and thoughts and cognitive mechanisms and not where peace and happiness reside.
Great quote and sentiment.
Thanks for sharing Karl. Still reading quietly over here in Oakland.
Hi Jessica, lovely to hear from you and hope all is well. Was just thinking of you the other day and wondering how you were. Thanks for reading so faithfully and for all the support, Karl.