A Huge Misunderstanding

A huge misunderstanding
For most of my life, I believed that I was my thinking. I assumed that thoughts were the essence of who I was, the very nature of what I was.

I couldn’t see any separation between the thinker and the thought.
They were one and the same.

The discovery
Then I discovered that I could observe my thoughts. I could watch them appear and disappear in my mind. Like watching clouds in the sky come and go, I could watch my thoughts come and go.

I realized that I was the observer of my thinking.

At first, it was difficult to be the observer. I frequently got caught in the content of my thinking and became lost in ideas and stories. Slowly, I gained the ability to witness my thoughts as they were being created in my mind.

I was the context not the content
This recognition that I was the observer and not my thinking was the first step in freeing me from the tyranny of my mind.

The benefits of being an observer
The recognition that you are both a thinker and an observer has great benefits. You are no longer subject to thinking that isn’t helpful or that is self-defeating. You now have the ability to step back and create space between you and your thoughts.

Most people are so fused with their thinking that they can’t separate themselves from their thoughts. Living in this space makes us a victim of our thinking mind.

Fuse and you confuse.

How to become the observer
If this seems a bit foreign and you’re not sure you understand it, let me give you some ideas on how you can experiment and see if it’s helpful.

Find a quiet place and sit down. Close your eyes and relax as much as possible. Sit quietly and watch what thoughts form in your mind. You may observe thoughts forming about things you need to do later. Or maybe a story is being created about someone. When you first try this, you may only catch yourself after a thought has come and gone. Practice this a little each day and you’ll get to the point where you can sense what thoughts are starting to form.

You can also practice saying as you watch yourself, “Right now my mind is creating the thought that . . . this is my mind and not me.”

There’s a never-ending stream of thoughts arising in our minds. The goal is to stand on the bank and watch the thoughts float by. Occasionally, you may still get lost in your thinking, but you’ll recover quickly and realize what’s happened.

Ask yourself if what you’re thinking is useful to you. If it isn’t, simply let go of the story it’s trying to sell you.

The ability to observe your thinking will transform your life
I used to get so lost in thinking. I believed whatever my thinking mind told me.

It was not a fun place to live.

One moment I would be happy and then a negative thought would arise and my joy would be replaced by fear, sadness or anger.

When I realized that thoughts were a product of my mind and not true I got free. My life has become peaceful and so much easier. The difference is like night and day.