On Mindfulness and Uninvited Guests…
Thoughts are party poopers…
You invite them into your little gathering, a.k.a life, and they’ll ruin everything. You know those guests that you thought would be the life of the party but you kinda early on realize they are a nightmare? Yeah, thoughts are like that. Exactly like that.
Thoughts are high maintenance. Spoiled brats demanding this and that. They criticize your food. They’ll eat everything they can get their hands on, and then complain that they are too stuffed. Thoughts rain on your parade. Every single time.
The thing is, thoughts are out of control…
Even the ones that pretend to be all kind and cute. They are out of your control. The worst part is that they can’t stop talking. Ever. Like a guest that never listens, not even once. That never ever asks you how you’re doing. Guests that only talk about themselves and their problems and their life and their dreams. Yeah, no room for anything or anybody else.
Try watching a movie with a friend like that. Said friend suddenly invites self over to movie night, and once again they’ll rain on your parade. They will talk through the whole movie. Like from beginning to end. A running commentary telling you exactly what you’re seeing. As if you’re not in the same room as them, watching the exact same movie. ”Look! A man is standing in the rain with a gun in his hand. Why? Do you know why? Maybe he’s gonna do something bad! Yes, he’s probably going to do something bad…blah blah blah”.
Please! Shut up! You scream. ”We don’t know how the movie will unfold. I haven’t seen it before either. If we sit back and relax and watch the movie, then maybe, we’ll get to see how it unfolds. And maybe enjoy ourselves for like a second!!”.
But thoughts can’t live with that uncertainty…
”What if he’s the good guy? I hope this is not a scary movie. I hate scary movies. I like comedies more. I loooove comedies. And Ryan Gosling. He’s so cute. Can we watch a Ryan Gosling movie instead?”. Gah!!! Shut up! I only wanted to watch a movie over here and enjoy myself for a moment. Is that too much to ask for?
Apparently yes. Thoughts will never shut up. Uninvited or invited doesn’t matter. They are here to stay.
And here’s where a handy little tool called Mindfulness comes in. Mindfulness, is the art of paying attention to whatever is going on in your life. Like watching that movie, without getting tangled up in the chatter of thoughts.
When I first started practicing mindfulness meditation, it was as if a new world opened up. For the first time, in a long time, I could see that those thoughts, the incessant chatter of thoughts, was not me (who knew?). I’d been so caught up in the thoughts that I’d believed it was me, my Self, talking. Until Mindfulness showed me that, no sweetie, you’re not your thoughts. Thoughts are guests. Sometimes invited. A lot of the times, uninvited and ungrateful little suckers.
But who am I then?
Well, mindfulness taught me I am the observer. The one who sees and experiences life fully. The one who has no need to run a commentary on everything that is happening around itself. The one that is peace and calm and laughs at all the crap the thoughts come up with. I’m the one who loves life exactly as it is. I am the one. I’m the one, yeah. (insert a little Bieber tunes here)
Mindfulness meditation shows you this simple and earth shattering truth. That you never were your thoughts. That you are something else, something larger than life. You are consciousness. You are energy. You are awareness, and you have the ability to observe not only your thoughts but also, your inner Self.
Mindfulness meditation pulls you out of your bubble of thoughts…
Mindfulness shows you the way back home into your being. To the part that is your true self. That part that is always watching and experiencing life unfiltered. Fully being with whatever is. From the day you’re born until the day you leave this body of yours, that inner consciousness is there. Unchangeable and unmovable and always present. Looking out through your eyes. And if you listen closely enough, it’s laughing. Laughing out loud. Bursting with joy and playfulness. Waiting for you to wake up, to realize that you’ve been there all this time and all you had to do was listen, for like a hot second. And notice, that life is oh so wild and extraordinary.
So amazingly extraordinary.
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