Blog

A Swami shared the following truth.
“Do you have any control of the birds that fly over your head? No.
But you do have control over the birds that want to land on your head and make a nest.”
The same is true with thoughts.
By writing, we become more aware of our power to acknowledge, choose or refuse the thoughts that come and go in our minds.
We usually react to persistent thoughts with our attention. The negative ones, as if they were gnats, will fly around in our minds and wear down our best intentions to rid ourselves of them. We get annoyed and want relief. We want them to go away, but they don’t. We could get angry, or we could accept that perhaps they are our responsibility, that we created them, and we need to change them, to understand what they are, and give them our attention and the benefit of our creative heartfelt generosity.

What you say out loud is usually a reflection of what you’ve been saying to yourself within.
You’ve heard that, probably somewhere.
And what you say to yourself or others, becomes your destiny eventually. Your self-proclamations become self-fulfilling prophecies. I’m of the opinion that we have cherished, habitual ways of thinking and talking about themselves that reflect opinions of us based on a resignation to persistent behaviors that we’ve engaged in over time that has defied our persistent efforts to change them. Exposing one’s mind to regularly reflecting on the high-minded thoughts of illumined thinkers, can open windows of positive possibilities.

Thinking about Thinking
or
the Moats and
Meadows of Musing.

As you write you may notice that your mind has long been encircled by a moat of mediocrity. Not mediocrity in the sense that you are mediocre, but mediocrity in the sense that you are ideologically stuck, in a meandering monotonous, unimaginative merry go round of sameness, that has left you feeling abandoned. Seeking the lilting light of liberation, you can cast an imaginative eye across the moat of mediocrity, and envision a meadow of peace containing beautiful prospects of blissful relaxation, and lighthearted insights illuminating worlds upon worlds of potential. Every imaginable can color fill the scene, grassy clover covered landscapes can blend into majestic stands of splendid spruces, set against the deepest azure heavenly expanses. The oppressing weight of mediocrity can dissolve as the dream self is absorbed by the beautiful meadow’s healing ambiance. Your creativity can now be unleashed, it can not be stopped, and spills forth with one empowering phrase upon reality-rending clause, upon scintillating sentence, and perpetual paragraphs of splendiferous imagery. You are freed to explore a boundless world of ingenious inventions and deep understanding.

Our subconscious minds are constantly recording our sensory experiences. Most of us are consciously aware of a small percentage of what the subconscious mind records, and the rest we ignore.
Therefore it could be said that we habitually pay attention to a particular range of thoughts that fits our universal view.
Our written thoughts give us a bird’s eye view of our thinking patterns, preoccupations, and belief paradigms.
What if we lived in an idea “gulf stream” of our own making, and we could, at will reach out of ourselves and dip our minds into another dimension, realm, or reality of enlivening unparalleled creative originality.
Anyone who has studied the brain knows about the interconnectedness of brain cells. New connections can be made through learning, awareness, and calmness. We exist in an ocean of knowledge. Attachment to one point of view, however, blinds us to other closely related, yet unrecognizable depths and dimensions of reality or possibility.
The magician of the material world directs our attention to the things that we are accustomed to and since our minds are not practicing a diffused awareness, it sees the trees but not the forest, or is it the other way around?

Just the action of taking a moment or two throughout the day to jot down a few random thoughts or impressions can change your outlook, understanding, perception, attitude, and purpose in life. Today with smart phones, it’s even easier to spontaneously record auditory or text records of your thoughts, and thereby change the course of your day. This can be refreshing on the one hand, if it enlarges your perspective, and improves your advantage, but not so good, if you lose your focus, and get sidetracked from necessary tasks to pursue a creative course of action. Then again it’s all about the attitude. Writing can loosen an inflexible frame of mind, that is oft blind to common sense circumstances and conditions. Stopping our brain in its customary or habitual drive to attack and conquer, could allow our heart to love and heal.

What do the following people have in common: Transcendentalist Ralph Waldo Emerson, Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu, supermarket magnate Frank Outlaw, spiritual teacher Gautama Buddha, and the father of Margaret Thatcher? Each one of these individuals has been credited with versions of the following quote:
“Watch your thoughts. They become words. Watch your words. They become deeds. Watch your deeds. They become habits. Watch your habits. They become your character. Character determines your destiny and it is everything.”
I keep busy alluding to the illuminating litanies that illustrate enlightening, uplifting and inspiring liberations that words empower.
Journaling allows you to understand yourself better.
Barack Obama, President of the United States of America says:
“In my life, writing has been an important exercise to clarify what I believe, what I see, what I care about, what my deepest values are. The process of converting a jumble of thoughts into coherent sentences makes you ask tougher questions.”
Many of the greatest leaders and thinkers recorded their thoughts and perceptions daily, an activity that helped them define who they were, what they were, what they were to become, and what was important to them.
Leonardo Da Vinci, a central figure of the Renaissance, ..(and) long considered by many a man of mystery. He recorded his thought processes, interests, and deepest beliefs. Leonardo’s notebooks of notes, jottings, sketches, doodles, and musings, including lists of books he read and even scraps of financial records present a fascinating insight into his mind.

Could ‘writing’ down one’s thoughts really result in a better life? What if it could? Could saving money, result in greater personal wealth? Could ‘going’ to the gym regularly result in better physical fitness?
Could a healthier diet result in better health?
A lot of it depends on an undeterred attitude, positive expectations, a clear determination and a belief that one deserves a better life and an openness to the emotional, physical, intellectual and spiritual changes that are sure to come in the growth process.

We all want to feel better. It has been said that our thoughts influence our feelings. We are of the opinion that thoughts came first and they are the qualifiers of our feelings. If we harbor negative, pessimistic thoughts, then most likely we will feel bad, worried, or upset. Persistently feast the attention on positive concepts and an upliftment of body, mind, and spirit will be the result.

Thought Awareness
is Real Self Awareness
Who are we and what are we thinking? There is an ancient saying, something to the effect, that we are not our thoughts or our feelings. If that’s true, what are we? It has been said that we are the Spirit that enlivens the physical form or that we are gods. If we were creative spirits that had the power to reshape the thoughts that come our way, and fashion new ideas to empower us, support our endeavors and create new possibilities, opportunities, and adventures for ourselves and others, then we have unlimited potential.
And unless we endeavor to address our minds and attention to acknowledging the helpful or unhelpful nature of our thoughts we won’t see anything change. If we are determined, we can change our thinking with a little effort. If we want a tool to facilitate the thought transforming process, then the regular practice of writing down our thoughts can be that engaging and very satisfying device for self-development. The skill to render our thoughts skillfully into a tapestry of eloquent self-expression can be patiently developed. By laboriously mining the subtle invaluable moments of heartfelt understanding, the vibrations of those efforts will reshape, if not the world, then our worldview.

It has been said that “Thoughts are universally rooted” and it could also be said that we have a responsibility to change the less desirable thoughts that come our way.
That can be easily done by changing out one word, inserting one or more words or subtracting one word or more words from our written thoughts that we usually keep hidden behind our behavior and belief system