The breath is our savior. The ego wants to get us and take over, but we can take back our power with the breath of life. It brings us to this moment and what is real and in our heart. We can follow it...one step at a time, we can trust it. It begins with awareness of what is real and what is just garbage in our head.
Once we ground ourselves and begin to slow down the chatter with our breath, we can begin the practice of observing our thoughts. When I breathe and observe my thoughts without wildly and instantly reacting to them, I take back my power to choose and reclaim my life. The past and future no longer confine me.
I can decide which thoughts are useful and which no longer serve me. The ones that no longer serve me can be honored as they may have served me at one time. However, I thank them, and let them go. Other times, I may find myself saying something like, "hmmmm that's interesting," and just allowing the thoughts to just be for the moment... not giving them more weight and time than they currently deserve.
This process can be as if I am in riding in car, heading down the road and watching the terrain go by. I may turn around and go back to points of greater interest or I may just pass them by for the time being...chalk them up to simply gathering more information. I do not have to react to the thoughts immediately. I can allow myself more time to breathe and be in the moment.
The practice of observation, of simply being aware in the moment is something I use to weaken negative thinking, to lessen its impact and it's power. When the ego finds itself less able to affect my behavior as I no longer allow my thoughts to control me as much, my heart has room to speak to me in its small still voice. I am guided by its peace rather than the booming urgent commands my head sometimes attempts to make because of doubt and fear.
I hope you will enjoy this next cartoon in my brand new series, "Lessons from the Heart"
“Pay no mind, it’s just a bunch of "jabberwocky”… that’s what I say.
“Jabberwocky” is a poem of nonsense verse written by Lewis Carroll as part of his novel “Through the Looking Glass, and What Alice Found There” (1871). It is considered by many to be one of the greatest nonsense poems ever written in the English language. Many of the words were his own invention, meaning nothing other than the definition he gave them. This is what I do!
I assign meaning to a bunch of words flying around in my head, giving them authority over my feelings and over me. Although the jibber jabber is sometimes interesting, more often than not, that’s all that it is… simply interesting. Just because I may think I’m stupid, doesn’t necessarily mean that I am. If I fret about the way my brain thinks, if I beat myself up for thinking negative…I only give it more energy. I give fuel to a fire that strives to keep burning, wants to keep me from experiencing who I truly am. It wants me to stay in the past, in the future, anywhere but the present. It wants me locked inside a mental jungle gym. Why? Why does my mind want me to stay stuck? It would appear that it does, that it wants me living anywhere other than peacefully in the present.
My mind is definitely the thing that stands in the way of my being who I truly am, the real me inside. My mind, my ego, wants power over me. It does this by attempting to trap me in the past. It wants me to feel bad, have regrets, and be depressed about what has happened. If I am not in the past, it wants me worried about the future, paralyzed by fear, analyzing potential dangers, doubting my potential, unable to trust myself. This inability to feel comfortable and safe in the present is what stands in the way of my freedom and my usefulness in this world. I cannot be useful to others while preoccupied with my own lack of self confidence and imagined insignificance. I am mired by this bondage of self. Allowing myself to drown in my own negativity and shame only perpetuates the separation I feel from the real me, the me that is not all of these disparaging, relentless thoughts.
I used to sit idly and wait for this to change, to feel better, more whole. I played the victim rather than take an active role in my evolution. I gave in to the belief that I possessed absolutely no control over my destiny. I let life happen. I felt if I did assume responsibility I would certainly fail. Therefore, my happiness was entirely contingent on these thoughts merely disappearing on their own accord. Consequently, nothing changed. I remained trapped inside myself and unable to move.
That is until I realized that these thoughts, though they came from me, were not me. When I discovered this I began to know my truth and declare it. Observing our thoughts, deciding whether they are useful or not, is how we can reclaim our power. If I take a moment to breathe before reacting to the often ridiculous chatter in my head, I am free to make choices based on love rather than fear. I can pay attention, learn what I need to and then discard the junk. I am no longer chained to the past, nor am I imprisoned by a myriad of useless fears. I am able to use my imagination more productively. Since I am aware that this constant stream of random, even absurd thoughts is possibly not even real, I can choose to let go of them if I wish. I can even congratulate myself because this awareness demonstrates a major shift in itself. I decide how much attention, if any, I will give them. I am awakened and living consciously.
I exist beyond the mental chatter that tells me I’m not good enough. I exist beyond my mind and this earthly body. I am separate from those passing judgments. As I allow myself to transcend, as I release myself from the invisible chains of my mind, I am patient. I trust the process!
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