Not all thoughts our mind produces are useful. This is a completely normal phenomenon.
Allow these thoughts and the associated emotions to flow through you without stopping them. They are like clouds in the sky. They come and go. Keep only the useful.
It is absolutely not about distancing yourself from your thoughts or emotions. They perform a very important function.
It’s not just passive self-observation.
I mean becoming aware of them as if we were sometimes observing someone else. That, in itself, changes a lot.
We start to think a little less emotionally – and a little more rationally. We build ourselves more consciously. Not under the whims of fate.
Your current thoughts and emotions may result from the momentary „chemistry” of your body, hormonal or nervous state – which was created at the moment. Realizing this is already a lot.
However, this departure from the axis of your thoughts and emotions for a moment requires a lot of skill.
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I once heard a story about a young student who came to his teacher and asked for advice on how to control his thoughts.
The teacher only said:
– Make an effort.
The student tried hard, but still failed from time to time. Then he came to the teacher again and said:
– I tried, but I can’t.
The teacher replied:
– Try, ….. but not so much.
And then the disciple understood. That was the essence.
Not in inaction, but in effortless action. Over time, this “Act, but not push” approach – brings good results.
This does not only apply to working on your own mind.
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„All change – comes through understanding.” That’s what Anthony de Mello once said.
You are what you create in yourself gently and without inner tension. In a conscious and purposeful way.
Only in a state of relaxation can a person reach his maximum potential. This happens when a state of mental relaxation goes hand in hand with systematic but moderate work.
The results are visible only over a longer period of time. It’s a natural process. It needs time and rest.
The most important thing is that you keep going. Even slowly, but you go. And you do exactly what you’re supposed to do – slowly but without wasting time. You go, regardless of the „clouds in the sky” (that is, your temporary thoughts and emotions).
Then, without unnecessary waste of energy – you will enter a higher level of your own development.
P.S
I was partly inspired to write this text by the thoughts of Shoma Morita – a Japanese psychologist who lived at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. You can find a lot of information about him on the internet.
I also used elements of the ancient Chinese concept of Wu-Wei (unforced action – my translation) and the popular concept of Minfulness.