It is amazing to me how much time we spend thinking. Thinking about this and that all day long, a constant barrage of thought flowing through our minds.  Yet all of this thought production can be distracting and counterproductive if you never choose to look closely at them and see what these thoughts are or what they mean.  The funny part is that we all think our minds, and our thoughts define us. But they don’t. They are just something we produce, not who we are.  The goal for me is to disidentify with the mind and the wild swirling eddy of thought and focus on the person looking at them.  A lot is going on in your head and to become the watcher of the thoughts you are producing is quite an achievement.

Use the Tool

A mind is a tool. It has great power to remember, create, problem solve and even run our bodies. But it isn’t who we are, any more than a helpful garden tool is us. It is a valuable tool we can use to create things, to make decisions, and the mind is the biggest factor determining what we accomplish in this life.  Learning to use the tool we have and not identify with who we are is the trick.  Our educational system does not guide how to do this, and most information we are exposed to makes no differentiation between yourself and your mind.  But they are definitely two different entities.

Take a moment and look at your thoughts without judgment. Take five minutes and type whatever you are thinking without any filter or judgment. Then analyze what you are thinking about. If you are the mind, how can you sit back and listen? Something is creating these thoughts, but it isn’t you.  Our thoughts come from a combination of our experiences and new stimuli that enter our lives.  Most often, our mind tells stories based on faulty programming and half-truths based on manipulations of others. If you write your honest thoughts down for five minutes, you will know where your thoughts are coming from.  And with real evaluation, you can trace them to their origin.  Then you can choose if this is a thought you really want to entertain or not. That is becoming conscious, and the choice very few people have made.  Rather than use this tool, the tool uses us and moves our lives along the conveyer belt of life as if we are on autopilot.

Think Where it Matters

Lots of thoughts we have about ourselves are extremely negative. We speak to ourselves in a manner we wouldn’t tolerate from anyone else. Our perceived shortcomings, failures, or personal lack are magnified, and if you listen, there will be words spoken in your mind that are unhealthy and mean.  Thoughts about our physical appearance or personal worth on the negative need to be identified and released. The person who most needs your kindness and understanding is you.  I have known people who go out of their way to be kind and give to everyone else, but they are overly critical and mean when it comes to them. This is obviously a problem with self-esteem and personal achievement. If you deep down think you aren’t as smart, talented, or deserving as everyone else, how can you ever become successful?  You can’t.  You are defeating yourself.

We too often let our imaginations negatively run our lives.  We spend time lost in the past, full of pleasant victories or devastating defeats. We color the past how we want and time spent there takes you away from spending time in the only place that matters.  The same can be said of the future. The future will happen whether we think of it or not. There is nothing wrong with planning. That is responsible, but worrying about everything that might happen is a fool’s errand. It is paying money for a debt that most likely will never exist. And if it does enter your life, it won’t be any easier to deal with.  Time spent thinking in the future takes you away from spending time in the only place that matters.  Where is this place?  Where does it matter?  That is the now. This moment. That is all we are ever promised and all we ever have.

Living in the Moment

Becoming intensely conscious of the moment is a difficult practice. Even the most diligent person is going to find their mind drifting off into other places.  The goal is to develop the instrument of the mind so that it can still be used for thinking of practical purposes, using it for discovering the best way to do things or create new things or become the best at something that you can. But to eliminate the involuntary deluge of negative dialogue that is unnecessary, unhealthy, and a waste of time.

Spend an entire day noticing your thoughts. When they inevitably drift out of the moment, and you notice it, you are back in the moment automatically.  This will allow you to look at how often you spend your time thinking about this moment and how much you spend in the traps of the past and the future.  Returning to the now continually allows you to live in the moment, which is the only reality there is. If you are at work, be there. If you are at the beach, be there. If you are at the gym, be there.  Developing this skill will allow you to become a watcher of your mind and put you in charge of the tool. This is a power that will allow you to get out of the way of your thought stream and use your mind to create, solve problems and enjoy your life. What more could you want?

“Life is like a game of chess. To win, you have to make a move. Knowing which move to make comes with IN-SIGHT and knowledge and learning the lessons accumulated along the way. We become every piece within the game called life!”

“Much more surprising things can happen to anyone who, when a disagreeable or discouraged thought comes into his mind, has the sense to remember in time and push it out by putting in an agreeable, determinedly courageous one. Two things cannot be in one place.”

“The beginning of wisdom is the definition of terms.” ― Socrates

“Never underestimate the power of thought; it is the greatest path to discovery.” ― Idowu Koyenikan