You Are Not Your Thoughts

We all have mental ideas of ourselves. Of who we think we are, and about what is happening in our world around us. But are these thoughts about ourselves and our circumstances true? Most of the time, the answer is a resounding NO!

Transcript

I'm going to ask you to consider this,

That the mind,

And when I say the mind,

I'm talking about how we think,

How we think about ourselves,

That we think about ourselves at all as selves,

As separate from other selves.

The words we use in our head,

In our mind,

The pictures in our mind,

All of it is an illusion.

I'd ask you to think,

Ironically enough,

Just think of,

Or maybe ponder or consider that,

That what we think about,

How we think about ourselves,

Our circumstances,

Our daily lives,

Is really just an illusion,

Because if you consider that further,

So often,

In fact,

Some would argue that when any of us,

When we are experiencing depression or anxiety,

And I tell my clients this,

That there was a thought first.

Sometimes we're aware of what those thoughts are,

But a lot of times we're not.

They're either unconscious or they're subconscious,

And maybe they happen like that,

Just like that,

And we're not even aware of them.

But that doesn't mean they don't have an effect on us.

And I dare say that if you are feeling whatever it is you're feeling,

If you're feeling happy,

It's because at some point in the very near past,

Maybe just a moment ago,

If you're feeling happy,

It's because you had a happy thought.

If you're feeling sad,

You had a sad thought.

If you're feeling anxious or depressed,

You had a corresponding thought and so forth.

That's just how we as human beings are wired.

We don't have happy thoughts and then feel sad.

We don't have anxious thoughts and then feel happy.

We don't have angry thoughts and then feel joyful.

That's not the way our brains work.

So much of what we think is strictly illusion,

But indeed it shapes our realities.

And if we want to change how we feel,

Then we have to change how we think.

And I like to think of it like this,

That if you're sitting by the side of the road,

Let's say,

And a car is coming from your left to right,

And it is a,

We'll say it's a blue car and it represents a positive thought or emotion,

Let's say happiness or joy or excitement or whatever it is,

Something positive.

Because it's coming down the road and we notice it,

We don't want it to speed past us because it's something pleasant.

We want it to ideally stop and park right in front of us and just have it sit there.

It just sits there and we can experience it in thought and in emotion,

Ideally forever,

But at least for a very long time because it is so positive.

So what are we going to do?

To get that car to stop,

We are going to get out in the road and try to stop it.

Let's say it's going very slowly,

Maybe two miles an hour,

And we're going to try to get out in the road and we're going to put our hands on the car and we're going to try to stop the car so it doesn't go anywhere.

Conversely,

Let's say a car is coming from our right to left and it's something that represents something that's not so positive,

Something negative in thought or in emotion.

Instead of getting out in the road and wanting it to stop,

We want to get out in the road and either pull it out of the way as quickly as we can or we're going to get behind it and we're going to push it out of the way as quickly as we can.

We want it out of our consciousness because it's unpleasant and we don't want to deal with it.

So that's,

As human beings,

What we tend to do.

Of course,

The problem with either of those things,

Something positive coming down the road or something not so positive,

Dare I even say something negative,

The problem is that we are in the middle of the road and whether it's something positive,

Whether it's something negative,

We are going to get run over at some point,

Either by that particular car or by another car coming behind it or a car that came before it.

We are going to get run over.

So what do we do about that?

I would suggest,

As I know many have in the past,

Depending on what you read and what you listen to,

It is better to be the observer of the cars going by than to be actively engaged in the middle of the road.

What I mean by that is instead of getting out in the road and trying to stop something positive or push something negative out of the way,

We are just going to retreat to the side of the road and sit down on the steps or bench or on the grass or whatever it is and we are just going to let these cars coming from the left to the right or right to the left no matter what color they are,

No matter what they represent in thought or emotion,

We are just going to let these cars go by.

We're going to see them coming probably,

We are going to recognize them for what they are,

We're going to appreciate them,

Even those that are not so positive,

Appreciate it on some level or at the very least appreciate that you notice it and then we're going to just simply let it go by.

And we do that because on the side of the road,

Not in the middle of the road,

But when we are on the side of the road,

Let's say we're sitting on a blanket and it's a nice grassy little hill or whatever it is,

It's very pleasant,

It's very peaceful,

No matter what goes by,

We are experiencing peace,

We are just noticing the thought or emotion as it comes,

As it's in front of us and then as it passes.

Because remember this,

There is someone once said that the only absolutes in life are death and taxes.

Well okay,

That's true to some extent,

But I would also add this,

That we know with certainty that no thought and no emotion is going to last,

That thoughts and emotions are going to come and go and far better for us to be on the side of the road watching them just come and go,

Go from the left,

Come from the right,

Whatever it is,

We're just watching it,

We're observing it and we are experiencing peace no matter what is coming our way,

No matter what is going in front of us,

Passing through whatever it is,

We're on the side of the road and we are just sitting there experiencing peace,

Watching it all go by.

So I would encourage you at least a few times in the next seven days to try to practice that,

Recognize a thought that you have,

Recognize the emotion that comes with it and then just practice letting it go,

Appreciate it for what it is,

Accept it and then we just let it go.

Anyway,

I hope this has been helpful,

I hope you have a great day and I'll talk to you again soon.

Reviews

Excellent advice 👌

This perspective was very helpful- thank you for sharing.

Interesting and Thought-Provoking 🙏🏻💕

True. Train of thoughts aren't you. You are actually the space you recognize between one thought and the other. You are not your thoughts.

Very thought provoking. Thank you 💜 x

Great way to start the day. Thank you.