Are you one of the people who feels disturbed by your thoughts?
Have you ever counted the thoughts you get about the mistakes you have done in your past, the awkward moments, the things you could have done better, the resentments etc?
Do these thoughts trouble you?
And how many thoughts do you really get about the wonderful moments in your life, the happy days, the moments of success.
If you are like me , you would discover that there would be very less thoughts in the latter category.
In fact, when in a popular meditation session , people were asked to think about a happy event in their life, many of them struggled to find such a moment.
In fact Lets try this now.
Take a moment. Close your eyes. And just select any happy moment in your life from the day you were born till today.
Take 2 minutes. And think of all the happy events in your life.
Now try to think of all the negative things that have happened to you.
Which list was bigger?
Which were you able to feel in more detail and precision ? The happy moments or the negative moments?
I think we all know the answer !!
Does this mean that more negative things have happened to you in your life.
NO !!
Why then does the brain remember negative thoughts more clearly than the positive and happy thoughts?
Is it because the mind always likes to stay in a mode of conflict and hence keeps reliving all the negative thoughts again and again.
What can be done to reverse this state then?
Would you like to know the secret behind this. If your answer is ‘YES’ then Read on ….
Is it thought Control?
Gratitude?
Affirmations?
NO !! That is what even I had thought for so long and tried in vain for several years until I struck upon this beautiful technique in a wonderful book.
It is called
AWARENESS
Aww, you read that right :))
Awareness is the secret.
When I say awareness , do I mean awareness of my thoughts alone.
No. Awareness from the moment you get up till you sleep “of your inner state”. Awareness of what happens when you think a thought, awareness while doing each action, Awareness of being unaware.
Just visualize a person within you who is observing your every thought, every reaction within your body and mind when you talk , think , do stuff etc.,
Let’s assume that this is personX.
This personX only watches your thoughts and reactions to your thoughts like a third person.
In fact, if you start being aware in this way, you will realize that all stressful thoughts, negative thoughts or any random thoughts are generated when you are not aware.
Once you realize that you are not aware and you are getting unwholesome thoughts, invoke PersonX immediately.
This is called awareness of being unaware.
Once the personX starts observing , these thoughts stop.
So , PersonX is your new friend to invoke whenever you start getting these thoughts :))
So, awareness is the only answer.
If you try as you might to control your thoughts, it would fight you back.
Instead just invoke the personX and start watching each thought and your reaction to each thought. Don’t distinguish if it is a happy thought, sad thought , mundane thought.
Just watch !!
Watch each thought with the same awareness without any attempt to fight the thought.
That here is the ultimate answer to start really managing your thoughts.
When you observe all your thoughts in this way, you will notice that these thoughts will magically disappear.
That being said, you might wonder why are these thoughts being created in the first place? How long can I be aware and work with these thoughts?
Instead how to prevent these thoughts from occurring in the first place?
Would you like to explore the answer for this?
For this , we need to have a basic understanding of the mechanism of formation of thought.
You see at the actual moment , when there are arguments , criticisms , appreciations etc., we need to be totally aware in that moment.
If we are not aware , then the mechanism of building images start.
I have often noticed this happen to me wherein the images start to appear 2 days after the actual event happens.
This is because I was not completely aware at that moment or tried to reject what was happening mentally.
Now if the mind had been attentive during that time and did not try to ignore or prejudice what is happening, then no new images are formed.
You are completely attentive and present in the moment and have no preference for any particular occurrence just as you do not distinguish any particular thought.
When you are aware of all occurrences in this way, your very awareness is the solution to your problem.
You are aware in the moment and do not judge it or avoid it. You see the moment just as any other moment and with complete awareness.
When this happens, no new thoughts will be formed out of the incidents that occur and you need not spend a great deal of your energy in fighting your past as no new negative image or memory is being formed.
Sounds Great right !!!
YES . It is a work in progress but definitely a start.
I have now started my way of processing through these images by being attentive about each image that is formed daily with the help of personX. And am also going to be aware in each moment as we do not know which moment would create new images.
Would you also like to apply this technique?
Next time , when you feel burdened by your own thoughts , start calling personX and see how clear and relaxed your mind feels once you apply this technique.
And do share your experiences in the comments below.
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