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Last updated October, 2019. Before you scroll down...we keep this site ad-free for our readers. If you get value from what we write, please consider supporting us by checking out the overview for our best-selling work, "An owner's guide to the mind".  There is a famous quote that is attributed to many different people. Here's a version of it: Watch your thoughts - they become your words. Watch your words - they become your actions. Watch your actions - they become your destiny. The first line of the quote is meaningful in the context of mindfulness and meditation. The key word is "watch." You can't control thoughts, contrary to the myriad of self-help books written over the past 100+ years. And, you can't "force" yourself to stop thinking. Many people believe these to be the goals of meditation - and, once they realize the futility of trying to do either, they get frustrated and give up the practice. But, you can watch thoughts. You can see how they are weaved together into stories, and how these stories constantly run through your head in the form of an inner narrative. Right now, because you are so identified with this inner narrative, you tend to believe it's reality - you get caught up in everything it tells you:
Those thoughts and the emotions that follow give rise to more thoughts and emotions - which, in turn, give rise to more thoughts and emotions. This process can easily bury you in a landslide of mental noise (mental drama) that makes you
All of it shapes your words, decisions, and actions/reactions. Watch your thoughts - they become your words. Watch your words - they become your actions. Watch your actions - they become your destiny. From thoughts to decisions to actions, it's easy to see how this process affects the way you live your life. And, how your life ultimately turns out (i.e., your "destiny"). This process creates a vicious cycle because the end result - the way you live your life - feeds back into new thoughts which carry forward and continue to reinforce and affect the way you live your life (bringing us full circle). But, when you start watching it all, the cycle can be broken. You strengthen awareness of your thoughts and inner narrative. You see how it all comes into being, exists, and passes - moment after moment after moment. And, in doing so, you learn to notice everything without getting caught up in it. This is the essence of mindfulness and meditation, and developing a consistent practice will help you stop identifying with your mind and it's activity. It will help you stop following your thoughts wherever they lead. It will help you see the difference between what's happening, and the stories your mind tells you about what's happening. Instead, you learn to watch it all come and go - like clouds moving across the sky. Held hostage by the drama your mind creates? We can help. Comments are closed.
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