You Are Not Your Thoughts

The right mindset powerfully impacts your ability to perform. The mistake many make is to give credence to the story that you cannot control your thoughts. Maybe not, but does that necessarily mean that your thoughts control you? Thoughts are like clouds blown across the blue sky of your mind. The mistake is made when you attach meaning to errant, disempowering thoughts, believe them or think that they are somehow a part of you. Having scared thoughts does not make you a coward. Having angry thoughts does not make you a raging person. Having sad thoughts does not make you depressed. Internally, we all have each type of thought. We are only defined by them when we attach to them and act on them or let them dictate our life.

Schizophrenics believe in and act on the thoughts that blow across their mind. The ability to separate yourself from the random noise of your thoughts is what defines you as sane. Let those thoughts blow across the sky but do not mistake them for you. Train your mind to grab the ones you like and let go the ones that do not serve and empower you.

I’ve heard the mind likened to a horse and you its’ rider. Your mind may wander, race or startle, but you the rider can reign it in. Even the best trained horse grows skittish when surprised or presented with danger. This is not a fault but a survival reflex. Do not chide yourself when negative thoughts or events upset your equilibrium and your mind is unsettled. This is as it should be. But never forget that however the mind bucks or bolts, you are the rider. You make the decisions and choose the course of action.

This is choice instead of reaction. In life thoughts or events will arise. Your mind will react. But you the rider will choose how to respond. You are neither subject to your mind’s panic or the thoughts/events that triggered it, you are the one observing the event and the reaction and determining the best response.

Right now I’m trying to learn how to do muscle ups without a false grip. Thus far it has not gone well. In fact I feel very far from realizing this skill. The attempts terrify me. My mind gets predictably noisy with thoughts like these: “this is dangerous,” “you are going to get hurt,” “I am never going to figure this out,” “other people make it look so effortless,” “The Touch and The Truth are so good at this,” “I’m not making any progress.” I let these thoughts flit through my mind. In fact, I’m powerless to stop them. I won’t waste any energy trying to suppress them. I just refuse to attach to any of them. I just nod my head and say “thanks for sharing your opinion.” Eventually another thought will arise: “you’ve acquired harder skills,” “other things have felt more difficult,” “if someone else can learn it, so can I,” “It’s just going to take a lot more practice,” “I will figure it out eventually.” These thoughts do not arise in equal measure. I would guess there are 10 negative thoughts to every one positive thought but it is not my thoughts but me who gets to choose which to believe and I’ll take the empowering ones, thank you very much!

When you recognize that thoughts are spontaneous, uncontrollable manifestations, you will learn to discard the ones that don’t serve you. If you do not like the first ones to arise, sift through until you find a thought that empowers and delights you and claim it as your own. Forgive your mind for grasping reflexively at the most negative thoughts, it was wired through evolution to be alert for negative stimuli, it is simply doing its job to keep you safe from danger. It’s like an over-sensitive alarm. It is still valuable for keeping you safe. It will just have many false alarms. You will have to become skilled in recognizing when the alarm is warranted and when it isn’t.

When you’ve made peace with your mind’s reactionary nature and accepted the irrelevance of your thoughts you will discover within a peaceful and powerful place from which to navigate life. The world will stop looking so frightening. Challenges will cease to appear as daunting. In every circumstance you will be able to find the thoughts that most empower you and you will create your response in the face of circumstance instead of living a life dictated by circumstance. You will be able to find your peak performance.

Saturday Make Up Day