Just a Thought: Not Who I Am!

During my morning meditation, I had a thought about a thought.  That it was only a thought, not who I Am.  The initial thought was disturbing.  But then I backed away from it, I realized that who I Am was outside of it.  The thought seemed meaningless.  I continued to view each thought as a visitor, one I could invite to stay (those that brought me comfort or joy), or politely dismissed them (those that were upsetting).

I have long loved, and found comfort in, Rumi’s Guest House poem (The Guest House).  The poem suggests that we treat all feeling and thoughts as important guests in our psyche.  Therefore, my initial sense of dismissing some thoughts as meaningless was inconsistent with the importance of this poem in my life.

Then I remembered that thoughts and feelings are two different ways of experiencing.  Thoughts are mental expressions.  Fearful, anxious thoughts are usually about something that happened in the past (it happened so accept it), or worrisome thoughts about the future that have not, and probably won’t happen.  As Winston Churchill is credited with saying: “When I look back on all these worries, I remember the story of the old man who said on his deathbed that he had had a lot of trouble in his life, most of which had never happened.”

An Invitation to Heal

I invite you to begin to explore the difference between your thoughts, which lead to feelings, and your feelings which can be independent of your thoughts.  Feelings can be brought about by lack of thoughts, such as during meditation.  Feelings can be brought about by intense sensations such as being in Flow, as described by Csikszentmihalyi’s.  Flow is the state of engagement that can be achieved when completing a task that challenges one’s skills, such as those described by skilled musicians, visual artists,  and top athletes.  This is where they experience the I Am of who they are.  If you have ever been in a state were you feel exhilarated, ‘in that zone’, but also unaware of the time that passed (a mental construct).  You are not thinking as much as you are experiencing the I Am of who you are.

During this time of global transformation, being able to move beyond worrisome and anxious thoughts is vital to collective healing.  I offer this fun way to healing through observation of your thoughts and feelings, and getting into the I Am of who you are (Free A-Z Clues to help you focus your attention on those Guests that bring you joy and wellness).