It’s Just Information: How Meaning Shapes Your Emotional Life

Here, I want to explore something that is deceptively simple. It may seem a tiny error in reasoning, but the meaning we attribute to events and, in particular, other people’s behaviour, it lies at the heart of much of our unhappiness.

We spend a lot of time being upset, anxious, or even stuck trying to figure things out.  This post explores a simple but powerful idea: most of what affects us emotionally isn’t what happens, but the meaning we attach to it. By learning to recognise events as “just information,” you gain a practical pause point. A space that one that reduces rumination, softens emotional reactions, and puts you back in control of how you think and respond.

If you want fewer emotional hijacks and more choice in how you live your life, this is worth your time.

It’s just information

That might sound obvious, but stay with me. What I’m about to describe has had a profound impact on my life, and on the lives of many of my clients and the people I speak to. It’s a small but powerful shift in how we understand communication – especially how we communicate with ourselves.

By the way, this is an edited transcript of my 5-minute Tinycast, It’s Just Information.

 The World Is Just Throwing Information at Us

The world, life, the universe—call it what you like—is constantly throwing information at us. Day in, day out. Most of it we have to filter out, otherwise we simply couldn’t cope. And most of it has no specific meaning for us at all.

If it’s raining, it’s not personal.

Yet when it comes to relationships, other people’s behaviour, things we hear or observe, we very quickly attach meaning. We take neutral information and turn it into something *about us*.

And this is where things get tricky.

Because it’s often not the information itself that causes the problem—it’s the meaning we give it. That meaning leads us to ruminate, to worry, to judge. All of that happens after the raw information lands and we start turning it over in our minds.

A Simple Example

I was speaking to someone recently who reminded me of an example I’d shared months ago. They said it really landed for them, which is always good to hear.

Imagine this.

There’s a vase sitting on a small table nearby. A flower container, if you prefer. Now imagine it topples over, falls off the table, and smashes on the ground.

The basic information is simple: the vase fell and broke.

For me, that’s just information. A small mishap. Maybe it means I need to clear it up, but emotionally it’s no big deal.

Now imagine that same vase belonged to someone else. It was a treasured heirloom from a long-deceased relative. It had been in the family for three generations.

Same information. Completely different meaning.

And therefore, a completely different emotional response.

It gets even more layered if they believe someone knocked the table—whether accidentally or deliberately. More interpretation. More colour. More pain. All from the same basic fact: the vase fell and broke.

Where the Power Really Is

This is what I mean when I say *it’s just information*.

Everything we take in arrives as information. What we do with it—how we interpret it—is what creates joy, happiness, sadness, fear, or pain. Most of the time, that process works well enough. But sometimes it doesn’t.

Sometimes we get stuck in rumination. We worry. We suffer. And often unnecessarily.

The beauty of recognising that something is just information is that it gives you a pause point. A choice.

You can stop and ask:

• How am I interpreting this?
• What assumptions am I making?
• Is there another way to see this?

That moment of reflection gives you back a level of control. It allows you to intervene in how incoming information affects you—especially when it feels sensitive or potentially hurtful.

So there it is.

It’s just information.

Let me know what you think. You’ll find more on this blog. And if you have a question or a topic you’d like me to cover, you can leave me a comment, below..

Have a great day.
All the best.

this is an edited transcript of my 5-minute Tinycast, It’s Just Information.