Right now,
In this very moment,
Sitting here,
I feel pretty good.
But without moving a muscle,
I can significantly worsen how I feel just by thinking about something sad,
Terrible,
Tragic,
Or painful.
Or,
I can choose to improve my mood by imagining puppies,
Baked goods,
Or a big bowl of fresh fruit.
We are always standing at a fork in the road,
And through nothing more than the power of our thoughts,
We can navigate which way we want to go.
What's more fascinating is that even though I love puppies,
Baked goods,
And fresh fruit,
Instead of smiling when I think of them,
I could actually choose to feel sad simply because I'm not currently holding any of them.
Whether I feel happy or crappy is totally up to me.
And to be clear,
I'm not suggesting that the aim is for us to be constantly happy,
Nor to imply there's anything wrong with us if we don't.
Suppressing how we feel doesn't actually solve any problems,
It creates new ones.
But because we are more deeply affected by our thoughts than our experiences,
It's important that we learn how our incredible minds work.
Imagine if your television was always on and you didn't know how to turn it off or turn down the volume.
Worse yet,
It's not just playing shows and commercials,
The voice in your head is loud and judges everything you do.
That would be enough to overwhelm anyone,
So most people resort to yelling at the TV instead of looking for the remote.
But in this episode,
We're talking about doing things differently from now on.
And to my fellow over-thinkers out there,
This is good news.
I've been taught that even when we can't control our thoughts,
We can still control the quality of our thoughts.
In other words,
You may not be able to turn off the TV,
But you can still change the channel.
Do you remember the old story about the mice who got food from the same spot every day?
They just assumed there would always be plenty to eat over there,
So they kept going back to the same spot for more.
Until one morning,
They discovered that all of the food was completely gone.
Well,
Two of them immediately accepted this new reality and went searching for food somewhere else,
While the others got angry,
Irritated,
Or stuck in denial.
They were all hungry,
And understandably so,
But those who chose to accept change and move on suffered far less than those who chose to cling to their frustration.
We can't stop change from happening,
But we can stop our negative reactions to it.
It's amazing how much we worry about tomorrow with such strong conviction that tomorrow will even come.
Buddhism reminds us to never assume there will be a tomorrow,
Which isn't grim,
Sad,
Or morbid.
It actually encourages us to be grateful for today,
To celebrate the right here and now.
That is why I said that in this moment,
Right now,
Sitting here,
I feel pretty good,
And it's not because there's anything incredible going on.
We have already established that there are no puppies,
There are no baked goods,
Or fresh fruit within reach.
I feel good because I'm choosing not to be angry,
Irritated,
Or stuck in denial,
And that is a choice we all have.
We will still be visited by grief and frustration,
For example,
And it's important to sit with them,
Cry when you need to,
And you will better understand what each feeling is trying to teach you.
We may not like it,
But discomfort and pain are often our greatest teachers,
So don't suppress or try to run away from them.
It's the only way many of us ever learn anything,
But don't get stuck there either.
Keep things flowing.
Imagine waking up tomorrow with only the things you are grateful for today,
While everything you take for granted is gone.
Doesn't that help change the quality of your thoughts?
What I'm saying is the remote control is in your hand.
If you don't like what you see or hear,
Change the channel.
Whether you feel happy or crappy,
The choice is yours.
Practice makes practice easier to practice.
Good luck.
