Are my thoughts real?

Are my thoughts real?

Have you ever wondered what makes you believe a thought?

You have around 60,000 thoughts a day, but how do you decide which thoughts to pay attention to? Which ones to dwell on? Which ones to believe? Which ones to keep repeating? Which thoughts to overanalyse? And which ones to pay no attention to?

When you think about your thoughts this way, it kinda gets you thinking about your thinking!

The truth is that none of your thoughts are actually real! They just seem real because of your consciousness and the feelings and meaning you attach to thoughts. A bit like a Disney film animating your thoughts and bringing them to life.

Habits of thinking sound like old news! And all the only obstacle you are ever up against is your thinking. In some cases you may have developed certain thought patterns which, if you touch them hurt, a bit like putting your hand on the stove.

Which is why knowing which inner voice to listen to means the difference between living a life of wellbeing and living a life of problems and difficulties.

Thoughts are the best special effects department going and if you believe you are feeling something other than your thinking, it’s going to look like that.

The good news is that your mind has a self correcting system, which means that when you REALISE all that’s happening is that you’ve got caught up in a thought storm, then you see things for what they really are. 

When you do this, the mind calms down, the central nervous system and the amygdala calm down and you experience a sense of calm clarity – a bit like breathing a big sigh of relief. 

This isn’t always easy to do, especially when the ego is involved, because the ego wants to defend, blame, judge and point the finger! 

See this as a marathon and not a sprint – the more you slowly come to see your thinking as simply that – just thoughts – the more you will, day by day, start to experience life from a place of calm and clarity.

Next time you feel yourself having a wobble, ask yourself ‘where is my thinking playing a hand in this?’

Start to get sensitive to the fact you’ve got caught up in your thinking. You don’t need to analyse your thinking, just see it for what it is – a thought! The more you do this, the more you can steer your way back to the present moment.

A brilliant and deeper insight into the nature of thought comes in the chat I had with Jamie Smart, Sunday Times best selling author of Clarity.

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