Most of thel problems in our lives are generated by our thinking mind.
When we’re depressed, we are constantly thinking dark, negative thoughts.
When we’re anxious, we’re constantly thinking insecure, anxious thoughts.
When we’re caught in the drama of life, we are usually retelling that story of drama in our minds, again and again.
To be free from this compulsive thinking is to be free from much of the suffering we create for ourselves.
Usually, the narrative we repeat in our minds — the one about the most negative thing that happened to us, is running unconsciously. The mind is always scanning for something negative to blame everything on. But even a single moment of clarity and peace can interrupt that train of thought. And when we do that, we create a new track. The more we do this, the more we break out of these habitual patterns of thinking, these downward spirals we so often fall into, where one little thing going wrong ruins our entire day.
When we create moments of quiet in the mind, we stop fixating on what we don’t have, what we want, or what we feel we need. We come into the here and now. And when we give our full attention to this moment, all possibilities for how best to respond to the situation can emerge, free of fear or desire. In that clarity, we can see the full picture. We’re able to recognize the good and bad in each choice, and lean toward the path with the most good and the least harm.
But when we’re stuck in fear-based thinking, constantly bouncing between imagined futures and painful memories, we can’t truly respond to life, because we’re not fully in life. We’re not grounded in the present.
There’s been a great deal of research into the creative process, and one consistent insight is that true creativity comes in the gaps between thoughts. Those quiet spaces, those moments of no-thinking, are where breakthroughs and clarity arise. Einstein didn’t develop the theory of relativity while buried in books. He came up with it while playing the violin or going for a bike ride. Newton didn’t discover gravity while doing math, it came to him while sitting under an apple tree, simply being. We don’t access our deepest wisdom through constant thinking. We access it by creating room for new possibilities to come in.
When we identify with that which constantly changes — our roles, our careers, our achievements, our image — we live with the fear of change. Every identity built on something temporary will inevitably cause suffering as those things shift, evolve, or disappear.
Many people tie their identity completely to their job. So when they lose it, or even retire, they suffer immensely. Even the fear of losing our lives becomes a heavy burden when our identity is built on this impermanent self. That subtle, constant pressure can manifest as anger, addiction, chronic pain, or burnout.
But when we identify with that which is eternal and formless, with the one life that animates every being on this planet, with the consciousness that underlies all existence, then fear disappears. We no longer feel like victims of our circumstances. Instead, we feel a creative, courageous spirit flowing through us. We no longer believe the universe makes mistakes. We no longer feel like slaves to some unforgiving fate.
When we identify with the source of life that created everything and lives within everything, we begin to recognize the perfection of our own design. We realize there is nothing to fear, nothing that can be taken from us, because we are one with everything.
But when we identify only with our physical body, our name, our labels, that’s when we start to feel like we’re never good enough. That’s when we constantly compare ourselves to others.
When we recognize the miracle of life inside ourselves, our oneness with the universe, we begin to live in a state of awe and wonder. And from that place, every ordinary act becomes sacred. Every moment becomes enough.
