Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Thinking, Thinking, Thinking


Mindfulness of our thoughts is one of the keys to decreasing our suffering.  How many times have you had thoughts that were totally unhelpful, maybe even detrimental to your own happiness?  Our mind is like a monkey, jumping all around. Sometimes completely weird thoughts come into our heads and we have no idea where the thoughts came from.  The problem is that sometimes we believe that because we thought something, it must be true.  Let’s say you have the thought “Maybe my husband is cheating on me” but there is no evidence that is true, not a single, tiny fact to support that thought. Being mindful that the mind is just thinking and what you think isn’t necessarily reality may save you from a lot of misery and from yelling at your husband for no reason.
The mind can have all kinds of thoughts.  Many times the mind has lots of negative thoughts about its owner–you.  And that definately lowers your mood and increases your suffering.
Thoughts are just thoughts. Because we think something it isn’t necessarily true. The mind isn’t about to stop genenerating thoughts, that’s what it has been doing for over 100,000 years.  Be aware that your thoughts may just be thoughts and not have any truth whatsoever. That’s normal.  So check it out, see if the thought is true.  Find the evidence.  If it’s true, then you can take action.  If it’s not, then you label it a thought and don’t pay attention to it.


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