Have you ever argued with someone?
Who wasn't even in the room.
Most of us have.
We replay conversations.
We imagine.
What someone meant.
We predict how tomorrow will go.
We rehearse problems.
That haven't happened.
Sometimes we spend hours living inside a story.
That never actually becomes reality.
And here is the strange part.
Because those thoughts happen inside our own mind.
We often assume they must be true.
But what if they aren't?
What if thoughts are something we experience?
Rather than something we have to believe.
Today I'd like to explore that idea with you.
As a psychotherapist,
I hear thoughts like this almost every day.
I am not good enough.
I am falling behind.
They are probably judging me.
I always mess things up.
Maybe you've had thoughts like this too.
The interesting thing is,
Our minds are incredible storytellers.
They're constantly trying to make sense of uncertainty.
Sometimes they tell helpful stories.
Sometimes they tell frightening ones.
And sometimes they tell stories based on old experiences.
Instead of what actually happening right now.
That doesn't make your mind broken.
It makes it human.
I sometimes joke that my own brain has won several Academy Awards.
Best Drama.
Best Catastrophe.
Best Imaginary Conversation.
The only problem None of those movies were based on real events.
Maybe yours has won a few awards too.
Here is something worth considering.
Thoughts often arrive automatically.
Belief is what happens next.
Those aren't the same thing.
A thought can appear.
Without being true.
Just because your mind says.
I am going to fail.
Doesn't mean.
.
.
The failure is waiting around the corner.
It simply means your mind produces a thought.
That's what mines do.
Now let's involves something we often overlook.
The body.
The next time a difficult thought appears,
Instead of asking,
Is this true?
Try asking,
What happens inside my body when I believe this thought?
Notice your shoulders.
Your jaw.
You're breathing.
Notice your stomach.
You don't need to change anything.
Just.
Noticing.
Sometimes the body quietly reveals how much we've been carrying.
Long before the mind recognizes it.
Many of us spend years trying to argue with our thoughts.
Trying to replace every negative thought with a positive one.
Sometimes that helps.
Sometimes it doesn't.
Another possibility.
Is Learning to become curious instead.
Instead of fighting every thought,
We begin noticing it.
We make a little space around it.
We stop treating every thought like a command.
Or a prediction.
Or a fact.
And what's often And that's often where something begins to shift.
Here is something you can try today.
Think of one thought that's been following you lately.
Maybe.
.
.
It is,
It can sounds like.
I am not enough.
I'll never change.
I am too late.
Now simply say to yourself.
I am noticing that I am having this thought.
See how that feels.
You haven't agreed with it.
You haven't argued with it.
You have simply noticed it.
Sometimes that tiny shift creates a surprising amount of freedom.
Your mind will probably keep producing thoughts.
Tomorrow.
And the day after that.
That part of that,
That is the part of being a human.
The goal isn't to stop.
Thinking.
The goal is to stop believing that every thought deserves the final word.
Sometimes your thoughts tell one story.
Your body tells another.
Learning to listen.
To both.
With curiosity instead of judgment.
Can completely change the relationship you have with yourself.
If this conversation resonates with you,
I'd love to hear from you.
What?
One thought.
You notice yourself.
Believe in.
Way too late.
Share it in the comments.
Until next time.
Take care of yourself.
And remember.
Not every thought deserves to become your reality.
