Tag Archives: thoughts

You are not your beliefs and thoughts

Change your thoughts and you will change your life

The average human being typically has more than 6,000 thoughts per day. The figure was pinpointed by a team of psychology experts at Queen’s University in Canada, who say they have developed a never-before-seen way to detect when one thought ends and another begins.

Other researchers estimate that we process between 60,000 and 70,000 thoughts per day. In 2005, the National Science Foundation published an article saying of those thousands of thoughts, 80 percent were negative, and 95 percent were exactly the same repetitive thoughts as the day before.

What you think you become

It, therefore, makes perfect sense to practice thought control. It can change your life. What you think you will become. It is the self-image with which you program yourself. Attachment to thoughts and beliefs imprison the mind. It is what the Buddhists describe as one of the major causes of suffering.

Our culture has been poisoned by narcissism and ego-centered thought. The predominant messaging is on external appearance, image, and possession. This inevitably leads to a disconnect with inner authenticity, spiritual purpose, and BEING. The more pronounced this disconnect the greater the addiction to all that offers short-term gratification.

We are seeing an explosion of substance abuse in those cultures worshipping the false gods of materialism. At the same time, we are seeing a dangerous tendency of fanatical addiction to fixed thoughts and beliefs that are threatening the foundations of democracy and free thought.

The loss of identity

The Ego-Mind confuses identity with thought and belief. It is a house built on a sandy foundation because a disconnect from the true self makes the person susceptible to holding onto a fixed belief or ideology. Identity is defined by the “others” who are wrong. An opposing idea thought or belief that threatens this false self-identity is perceived as a threat to all who we think we are. What is left of identity when we realize that the cultural icons that we have worshipped are emperors wearing no clothes? What is left of the ego when all the facts on the ground show us that we have been wrong all along?

The personality imprisoned by the Ego-Mind inevitably becomes physically and psychologically ever more rigid and inflexible to the point where it will not even hesitate to kill if it feels its identity crumbling away. It would rather die than admit that it was mistaken all along. The Ego-Mind has no inner substance, it knows no laughter, joy, or love.

All creativity that is dominated by the right side of the brain is stifled. But it is what makes us essentially human when we show a willingness to go with the flow of creativity in learning new things and developing our skill set. Soul authenticity is connected to the heart-mind. It serves a much greater wholeness than the self, the tribe, or the nation. The soul knows no attachment. It knows only unconditional love, joy, and laughter.

Connecting to the Heart-Mind

We will only survive as a species if we reconnect with this greater wholeness when we begin to realize that truth and belief happens in tolerance and interaction. We need to let go of the attachment to the opinionated head, the closed heart, and the defensive walls of what we believe to be identity.

Religious and political fanaticism is rooted in fear. Emotional stress and fear always begins with a thought. Fear and hate are never a reflection of truth. It comes from the lowest vibrational energy. When you take action in doing what you really love you begin to move beyond the fear.

There comes a point where you have to unlearn all the conditioning to become whole again by surrendering to trust. Experiential spirituality is essentially the practice of emptying the mind of all attachment and at the same time connecting to the inner room of the soul. It is surrendering to the magic of the moment and opening to the whispers of the universe.

Reino Gevers – Author – Mentor – Speaker

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The difference between thoughts and feelings

“One ought to hold onto one’s heart, for if one lets it go, one soon loses control of the head too”

– Friedrich Nietzsche-

We have to accept it as a reality of our world that much of what we think and feel is being shaped by social media platforms cementing beliefs and perspectives.

Emotions are an involuntary initial response to external stimuli by the brain’s limbic system as part of our evolutionary survival system.

The ancient Greek and Roman Stoic philosophers were well aware of this human trait. So, they developed a philosophy of life that maximizes positive emotions, reducing negative emotions, and honing virtues of character.

The Stoics believed that the way in which you respond to the world is your responsibility. They propose that most of the time your response to any given situation is a choice. At any moment you have the ability to choose one response over another.

Wisdom was seen as living in harmony with the divine Reason of that which governs nature. They trained the mind to remain calm amid the vicissitudes of life and fortune.

When a mass circulation newspaper prints on its front page an article on what would happen if Russia dropped a nuclear bomb on London, this inevitably triggers toxic emotions such as fear, anger, and outright terror. You have little control over such emotions, the brain’s limbic system is triggered into fight or flight mode.

When you go into rational thought you will start questioning the intention of the article and realize that the newspaper is merely pushing emotional buttons in order to boost its circulation and thus its advertising revenue. You will ask yourself: What is real? What is true? What is exaggeration and hyperbole?

Are you chained to your past with your self-talk?

Thoughts are always just that: Thoughts: They dwell on either an event of the past or an imaginary scenario of the future. Your quality of life will be severely impeded if you remain chained to self-talk that centers around the sadness over that which was and is no more or a perceived “grievance” that someone has inflicted on you. The mind is trapped in worries and concerns if it is fed a constant dosage of negative news on the economy.

The authenticity of the heart-mind

Heart mind feelings come from an entirely different space. Fear is transmuted by trust, and hate with love. Unconditional love and empathy come from a grounded trust in the power of a higher entity, the universal intelligence or God.

While an animal reacts mostly from the limbic instinctual level, the human has been given the power of choice and the ability to reflect. You need not be chained to your past. Every moment you can decide through choice to change your destiny.

Photo by Yuri Manei on Pexels.com

Where to start?

The inevitable question is: How do I regain control of toxic emotions triggered by a newspaper headline or a hurtful remark by a loved one? The first step is acceptance of those negative thoughts. Trying to push them away will only make the monster bigger. Before going into immediate attack mode, you could take a deep breath and ask yourself: Is my anger and hurt really justified? Where do I recognize that anger from? Where do I know that feeling of not being seen, heard, or disrespected?

A healthy body creates a healthy mind

If you are living a mainly sedentary lifestyle you will be far more prone to becoming a victim of negative emotions. If you feel healthy, fit, and strong you will be in a better position to “catch” the runaway horses of your mind. By practicing regular deep walking in nature you will find an inner rhythm that is in tune with your purpose and destiny. You will literally be walking toxic emotions off. Create a fixed time every day where you practice meditation, yoga, taichi, or qigong. These ancient body arts are perfectly suited to realign body, mind and soul.

According to the Stoic Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius “very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking.

Reino Gevers – Author – Mentor – Speaker

One more thing...If you have found this article interesting you might want to subscribe or recommend my FREE weekly Blog to friends and family. My books can be ordered at all places that sell good books in both paperback and kindle.

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