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"Not to be able to stop thinking is a
dreadful affliction, but we don't realize this because almost everyone is
suffering from it, so it is considered normal. This incessant mental noise
prevents you from finding that realm of inner stillness that is
inseparable from Being."
~ Eckhart Tolle ~
Don't
Scratch It by Leslie Karen Sann
Have you ever noticed how thoughts can be quite
annoying? They can buzz around your head poking at the inside of your
skull demanding your attention. Mostly they insist you give them credence.
As a matter of fact, they do their best to disguise themselves as truth.
In other words, most of us have become convinced what we think is true.
Thoughts are energy moving through brain matter and
may or may not have any resemblance to reality. Not that I've always been
savvy to that fact. There have been more times than I could possibly
remember when I bought into the propaganda my mind was generating. Just
the other day I was convinced I knew the hidden motive of another person.
Good thing I checked it out because I was very much off course. If I had
believed my own press, I probably wouldn't be talking to that person any
longer.
It's quite a dance to walk the path of not getting
involved in the incessant chatter of my brain. It’s similar to having an
itch and choosing not to scratch it. Especially when the thoughts are like
Sirens attempting to seduce me into getting involved with them.
But if I can hold steady and don’t scratch the
itch, the sensation will fade and no longer be calling my attention.
Recently something happened that aroused brain
activity and lots of busy inner dialog. I found myself having an opinion
about someone's opinion. My opinion was rattling around inside my head
wanting me to declare it right. It was trying so hard to get my attention,
but I chose to ignore the useless information. For even if my thoughts
were 'right,' who cares? My opinion makes no difference in the scheme of
things one way or another, so why waste my precious life energy investing
in useless thoughts?
It’s like going to lunch at a restaurant and
someone is at the table behind you talking on their cell phone, loudly
chatting away. You don't care what they are saying but it's in your ear
and it's irritating. Yet somehow you filter it out and it becomes
background noise and you find yourself at peace again.
Isn't that what we want, some peace and quiet? Yet
we can be in the most serene, tranquil place and if our thoughts are
churning away, we are anything but peaceful. So what to do? Don't scratch
the itch. Leave it alone. Don't pay any attention to what you are
thinking. That doesn't mean thoughts will stop. Nope. It means you'll stop
giving them your attention. And in doing so you make yourself available to
hear the space between the thoughts.
Ahhhh, what a relief.
JUST
FOR FUN...
Go
Here for Some Humorous Guidance:
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Copyright 2010 by Leslie Karen Sann, Living by Design
Visit this link for contact information:
leslie@living-bydesign.com
Reprint permission granted in part or whole when the following credit appears in full:
Copyright 2010 by Leslie Karen Sann,
Living by Design. All rights reserved.
Web site. http://www.living-bydesign.com
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