And how to respond instead of react.
In this session we'll discuss the different thoughts that race through our mind.
We need to know which ones to listen to and which ones to ignore.
It's important that we understand that not all of the thoughts in our head are ours.
Thoughts come from two different places with two very different intentions.
I think of it as the angel on one shoulder and the devil on the other.
This can also be referred to as our intuition and the ego.
Which one are we going to listen to?
Before we get into this further I want to just explain the context of where I'm coming from with this.
I'm coming from the premise that we are spiritual beings living a human existence.
Our intuition is the voice of our soul and the ego is the voice of the human mind.
The ego is created in the mind.
It's the human part of us.
The primary purpose and intention of the ego is survival.
It believes that it's a dog-eat-dog world and that only the strong will survive.
It believes life is a competition.
The ego can be over-protective,
Negative,
Petty,
Greedy,
Controlling,
Power-hungry,
Self-centered,
And over-dramatic.
The ego continually replays the past and stresses about the future.
It speaks from a place of fear.
Which also includes anger,
Guilt,
Sadness,
Shame,
Worry,
Embarrassment,
And any other uncomfortable emotion.
Our intuition is our heart,
Our soul,
Our true intention which receives messages from our higher self,
Our angels,
Spirit guides,
Loved ones who've crossed over,
The universe,
And of course our higher power.
Our intuition will always know what's best for us.
It will never lead us astray.
It will always be truthful and it will always come from a place of love.
Its intention is to lead us on the path that's meant to be.
Our intention has the knowledge of all our lifetimes and can see the big picture far beyond what is causing us pain in this life,
In this very moment.
Here's an example of a back-and-forth conversation between the ego and the intuition,
What it can sound like in our mind,
And see if you can relate.
The intuition says,
Work out.
The ego says,
I'm tired.
I don't need to work out.
I worked out yesterday.
I can do it tomorrow.
I'll have more time tomorrow.
The intuition says,
Run.
The ego says,
I just need a little more sleep.
I just want to sleep a little bit longer,
Please.
If I run,
Then I'll be all sweaty,
And then I have to take a shower,
And I still have work to do.
The intuition says,
Go.
The ego says,
I have so many other things I need to do.
I still have to work.
I should really go the grocery store,
And I should probably eat something before I work out anyway,
But then I can't work out right after I eat.
Maybe I'll watch that Netflix series.
You know what?
I'm just going to put it on for a bit and see how I feel later.
Now,
It's important to notice that our intuition usually comes in as one word or maybe like a short phrase,
Unlike the ego that has continuous and constant dialogue and narration.
I like to think of the ego as a defense attorney.
It's loud.
It never stops talking and will provide as much,
Quote,
Evidence as possible to prove they're right.
Our intuition,
On the other hand,
Is soft and quiet,
Confident,
And it doesn't say much because it doesn't need to.
Our intuition knows the truth and has no need to defend itself or provide any evidence.
In a book I read called The Untethered Soul,
The author explained the ego in a great way that I loved.
They said,
The ego is like having an annoying roommate in your brain that never shuts up.
Another example is to picture the ego as being that one person amongst a group of people who sucks all the energy out of the room and demands all of the attention.
Or we all have that one uncle who loves to hear himself talk and thinks he knows it all.
Well,
That's what our ego sounds like.
We need to see these thoughts for exactly what they are,
Fear,
Fear of the past,
Fear of the future,
And fear of change,
Any change.
Even if the change is a positive change,
Change is a threat to our ego because it causes a fear of the unknown.
Let's do a quick exercise.
Grab a pen and paper.
If you don't have one already,
You can go ahead and pause the recording and come back when you do.
I want you to write down a conversation between your intuition and the ego that you had recently.
Use something simple like my example of working out.
Try going back and forth with the conversation at least three or four times.
If it's too challenging to think of dialogue for the ego and the intuition,
Then think of it like the angel and the devil on each shoulder and speak for each one of them.
I'll give you about 30 seconds or so,
But of course,
If you need more time,
Just pause the recording and come back when you're ready.
Now,
I want you to use a more serious,
Life-changing example like whether or not to break up with or divorce your partner or whether or not to change jobs or have children.
I'll give you about another 30 seconds and pause if you need to.
Make a few notes about anything you notice in this internal dialogue.
Hopefully,
You can see the fear and negativity play itself out in the voice of the ego and the hope and positivity play itself out in the intuition.
For your therapy homework,
I want you to practice differentiating the thoughts in your head.
Differentiate your intuition from the ego.
Become familiar with both of them and know them well.
Being able to differentiate between the two can help us make better decisions regardless of which one we end up siding with in the end.
