Keep in mind the feedback involved. Think of reality as energy and form. Galaxies are energy radiating out, while form coalesces in. As mobile organisms we have the digestive, respiratory and circuatory systems processing the energy driving us on, along with a central nervous system processing the emergent forms, in order to direct our actions. Plants, not being mobile, don’t need to be intentional in their actions, so the form emerges from the reach of the energy expressed.

Consciousness is based on that emotional energy bubbling up through us, while thoughts are the forms it coalesces as.

So when we are trying to assign meaning to our expressions, we are trying to appreciate the forms being manifest. Yet form not only defines, but limits. Once the wave crests, it recedes and we ride it down. Like age. The trick is to appreciate the downside, for its own uses and not just apply the same standards of the rise. Ride the waves life gives you, don’t always try judging them.