Hello and welcome to Five Minutes in Nature with me Liz Scott.
I am out and about in Exeter.
It's the evening,
Darkness has fallen,
The street lights have come on and it's a little bit windy and so you might hear the rustle of leaves in the park that's right beside me as I'm walking and just getting a bit of evening air.
I've helped put my mum to bed,
That's why I'm in Exeter,
I help look after my mum.
So she's gone to bed and I've just got a bit of time to get out there.
And about.
And today I just want to talk about the nature of thought and how we can get lost in thought storms.
Waterproof gear and I just got really wet.
And it reminds me really of getting lost in thought storms.
Thought storms or states of mind like overwhelm or guilt or stress or anxiety or frustrations.
I imagine that as stepping out into the rain.
Apart from the rain is not water.
It's whatever thought just happens to be lashing down at that moment.
So if I am feeling overwhelmed and I step out into it and I get drenched in overwhelm,
Then my whole world feels overwhelming.
The same with stress.
If I feel myself having that experience of stress and I step out into that stressful thinking and I get wet in stressful thinking,
Well,
I get drowned in the feeling of stress.
That's what happens with thought is that if we don't realize what's going on and we just step out into it,
We get drenched with whatever state of mind or thought is going on in the moment.
It's just useful to understand that.
So today's reflection is just helping you realize how thought works and I'm telling you this because it made such a lot of sense to me when I began to Get an understanding of the nature of thought in my life.
You see,
Thought by its nature is temporary.
There is no thought that you have had in your life that has been a thought that's sustained over a long period of time.
Thoughts come and go.
One minute we think something and then it's gone.
I don't know what I'm going to be thinking in five minutes time and nor do you.
Thought just appears,
Materializes,
And goes.
Sometimes it hangs around a bit longer,
But the nature of thought is eventually it will go.
So whether you're feeling frustration,
Or guilt,
Or overwhelm,
Or anxiety,
It will go at some point.
That's the nature of thought.
It's just helpful to know that.
And in the same way as a rainstorm will eventually go,
It's just useful to know that too.
Forecast and realised it was just a passing shower,
Well I might have waited until this shower had passed and then gone walking.
Like,
If I understand the nature of what's going on with the weather,
Then I adapt myself,
I align myself to the way it works.
And that's the same with thought.
It's like,
When you understand the nature of thought,
You align yourself with how it works.
So for example,
If you understand that you have a flare of irritation,
And you know that this flare of irritation will go if you just keep your mouth shut so you maybe you don't say what you want to say or you don't send that email back straight away because you feel this flare of irritation and like a match that you've struck and it flares into life you know that it will eventually burn out well that's the way that you're aligning to the way thought works and it's so helpful to do that now sometimes you do actually have to step out into thought you maybe you're feeling frustrated but you've got to engage with someone.
There's a conversation you need to have.
And in those situations,
It's a bit like stepping out into the rain.
You know,
Take an umbrella,
Take a coat,
Protect yourself as best you can.
When I feel frustration or anger and I do need to engage in a conversation,
Well,
I'm really careful with what I say.
I hold back.
I don't say things without first reflecting or pausing before I say them.
Something.
That's the equivalent of going out in the rain,
But making sure you've got an umbrella with you.
So that's what I want you to reflect on with thought today,
Is that it's temporary.
It comes and it goes.
It's a bit like the weather.
And if you've got to step out into a thought storm,
Just prepare yourself and ensure that you don't get lost or drowned or drenched in that storm.
Allow yourself to align yourself with the way thought works.
And know that you just need to tread carefully when you feel you're on unstable ground.
Let me know your reflections.
And of course,
Don't forget to join me again tomorrow for another five minutes in nature.
