Universally Human
It seems that as we gain experience with Byron Katie's inquiry, we also see that the thoughts that bother us are universally human. They appear in all of us, and the only question is whether we believe in them or not. If we believe in them, we create suffering for ourselves. If we don't, they are free to come and go on their own. Again, there is not a question of if this whole menagerie of thoughts will arise in us - it does, but whether or not we believe in them.
This came up for me when I watched Brokeback Mountain earlier today. There is an immense loneliness and longing towards the end of the movie, combined with a grief over loss of what was and what could have been. Watching this, it - naturally - triggered these emotions in me, and now connected with situations in my own life.
I experienced it as very personal, but also realized how universal they all are. We all have loss in our lives - longing, loss and grief. That is why there are so many movies, books, plays and songs about these themes - exactly because they are universally human. We recognize them from our own life, and allowing it up - in the relatively safe setting of a fictional story - allows us the opportunity to bring them into awareness, and possibly some healing and coming to terms with it.
Everything each of us experiences is universally human - and with a universally unique flavor.