Tuesday, December 9, 2014

Courage

Rangitoto, New Zealand

Thoughts cause emotions.  In fact, emotions are the physical manifestations of thought.  When we have a thought such as "I am not good enough," it causes feelings of fear, loathing, etc.  It attracts other similar thoughts, perhaps memories of when we were not good enough.  The feelings increase with the memories and we spiral into a pit of despair and unhappiness. Our thoughts are created from beliefs formed by past events.  It does not matter when or why they initially were formed.

Many of our thoughts create strong emotions.

"I am not good enough";
"I do not have enough money";
"I am not attractive";
"I might get fired and will never get another job";
"Nobody will ever love me";
"Why did I not act upon a past opportunity";
"The Universe is against me";
"Bad things always happen to me";
and so on.

These thoughts which cause strong emotions all come from the same root beliefs:  We are unloved and unloveable.  This is the greatest lie of our lives.  Yet, at our core, we believe it,

Obviously, these thoughts do not serve us.  In fact, they cause our unease and ill health.  They affect our relationships, our careers, and our well being.

We can break the grip that our thoughts have over us.  By bringing attention to our thoughts without judgment, we can learn non-attachment.  The more light we shine on our deepest thoughts, the more their hold over us lessens.  It takes courage to acknowledge our thoughts without reacting.

No thought can hurt us unless we allow it to.  We create the reaction to our thoughts.  We create the pain that our thoughts cause.  Thoughts are only fleeting images in our minds.  They could not be more ephemeral.  They only have the power that we give them.

Let's acknowledge and surrender our thoughts.