Hi,
It's Giles.
This is a short piece for you to take time out with and reflect on.
A light-hearted story that points to something that's true for all of us.
As such,
There's no effort required while you're listening,
Only something to realise.
Something that can lead to profound,
Permanent change.
So get comfortable,
Relax,
And listen quietly for insight.
I stopped practising medicine in the conventional sense,
Giving up my prescription pad,
More than 20 years ago.
And while there's no doubt that our treatment of diseases and injuries continues to evolve,
I can't help but feel that in that time,
Our understanding of the human condition itself has regressed.
We've turned so many normal human emotions into diseases themselves.
I've seen that our innate human capacity for resilience,
Healing and wellbeing far outstrips anything we could offer in a pill.
And so these days,
Once a month,
I open up the doors to my practice and run a clinic with a difference.
People bring their problems,
Any problems,
To me and I listen.
I've been doing this for years now,
And it's fascinating to observe that although the individual circumstances people are up against vary endlessly,
The way in which they experience those circumstances is always the same.
Like you,
And like me,
They have a mind that provides a running commentary on their situation and that's what determines how they'll feel about it,
Moment to moment.
Our feelings are in absolute lockstep with our thoughts.
And both are in constant motion.
Except when it looks like they're not.
And that's when people come to my clinic,
A bit stuck,
Asking,
How do I stop these thoughts and feelings,
Giles?
I don't like them,
And I want them to go away.
The implication here,
Learned conditioning that we've had foisted upon us,
Is that there's something wrong.
Wrong with us,
With our brains,
Or with the way we react.
And if that's the diagnosis,
Then the prescription,
Understandably,
Will involve some sort of therapy or medication to right these perceived wrongs.
But what if there is nothing wrong?
Where did we get the idea that thought is the enemy?
Dig just beneath the surface,
And you'll see that the mind's voiceover on life,
The thing that governs how we'll feel in any given moment,
Has but one source.
Our past self.
This historical collection of ideas about who we are may be very convincing about its power to predict the future.
Hello,
Anxiety.
But,
By definition,
The only data it has at its disposal to do so is what it has seen in the past.
Unable to control what life will actually offer up,
This past version of us therefore does its very best to protect us.
By creating vivid,
Worst-case scenarios,
Coming up with a best guess at what we need in order to be safe.
It's incredibly helpful,
And at the same time,
Utterly indifferent to the fact that we are already safe.
Feelings of safety,
Contentment,
And generally just being okay with life are all available to us at all times,
Here and now.
It's what's there,
Ever-present,
Before the mind starts its analysing and fretting and trying to help.
But it genuinely doesn't know that,
So it does what it does.
Believing itself to be in charge.
Believing itself to be the entirety of your experience.
Believing itself to be responsible for your happiness and peace of mind,
When really,
It's just a distraction from those.
You can't stop it.
Neither should you try.
And in one such case,
Where a client laid out all the ways they felt like the worrisome mind was making their life a misery,
I gently enquired as to why they would not feel gratitude for its input.
It's innocent.
Irksome,
Maybe,
Yes,
But helpful.
And most importantly,
Harmless.
Shouldn't we treat it with kindness?
Sitting there in my clinic with a difference,
A new assessment of my patient's maladies began to form.
One that got to the very root of all their troubles.
Diagnosis,
Past self.
Prescription,
Compassion.
Self-compassion.
A panacea for modern life.
With love,
Giles And as with all my talks,
A deeper appreciation for what I'm pointing to can be had with repeated listens.
You'll hear something different next time.
