Sunday, January 3, 2016

Our busy Minds

"I've been through many terrible things in my life. And some of them really happened." Mark Twain, American humorist

This is one of my favorite sayings because it illustrates that most of the bad things in life occur in our minds.

We spend countless hours worrying about the future. Or fretting about the past.

"I think I might lose my job."

"This pain in my stomach might be cancer."

"No one loves or appreciates me."

"If I'd have been a better parent my child wouldn't be an addict."

Random thoughts bounce around our brains all day. They make us unhappy. We let them overwhelm us with sadness or depression or anxiety.

Yet, most of the thoughts that pop into our heads are meaningless chatter bubbling from our subconscious mind. But we act as if they're real. That they mean something. That they have substance and we should do something about them.

There's an easy way to deal with the narrative stream running through our minds. As thoughts pop up we recognize them as just thoughts. We don't judge them - or ourselves. Instead we accept them and let them pass.

One way to deal with our busy mind is to engage in meditation. And that's because a regular meditation practice teaches us to look at our thought stream as part of the human experience. We learn to accept what we see, non-judgmentally, and let it pass.

For a free meditation resource click here