Self-Created Suffering

"I think to a large extent, whether you suffer depends on how you respond to a given situation. For example, say that you find out that someone is speaking badly of you behind your back. If you react to this knowledge that someone is speaking badly of you, this negativity, with a feeling of hurt or anger, then you yourself destroy your own peace of mind. Your pain is your own reacting in a negative way, let the slander pass by your as if it was a silent wind passing behind your ears, you protect yourself from that feeling of hurt, that feeling of agony. So, although you may not always be able to avoid difficult situations,  you can modify the extent to which you suffer by how your choose to respond to the situation." 

This was a passage in the book about the Dalai Lama. It was about how we create suffering ourselves. The book is called The Art of Happiness. 

So far so good!