I was flying home today from a really great weekend, when I suddenly got attacked by a plethora of crazy stories and thoughts. This attack lasted for many hours. It was like my head was a satellite and hundreds of movies were being transmitted and downloaded into my brain! They were coming at me from all angles, and while I am usually able to stop the attack right there and acknowledge the thoughts and then just let them go like I discussed in my previous post about not believing our thoughts, I couldn't fight them off today. I gave in. I watched these movies in my head and believed they were true. Most of the time these movies we play in our heads have to do with situations with other people - what they think, what they believe, what they are doing, what their motives are, etc. So, really, we're making up movies about other people, and then we react without even asking them if it's true, or without having enough tangible information to determine if it's true. I did this, and I did this a few times throughout the day today. I believed the blockbuster epics that were running in my head. In my own mind, I made accusations, assumptions, and got defensive. The whole rest of my afternoon and evening were spent in a state of feeling a complete lack of self-worth because giving in to the movies that were playing in my head caused me to believe that I was pretty worthless and insignificant.
Finally, I snapped out of it, when I realized that I was being a total victim and wasting a perfectly beautiful evening by giving all my energy to these thoughts. I snapped out of it when I remembered that I have the power to choose not to be in a mode of worthlessness and disappointment. I could chose not to believe these stories in my head which I don't even know are true... true... ahhh... there it was. I stopped. I asked myself... are these stories I'm telling myself about this situation true? Are the assumptions and beliefs I'm making about this other person true? Am I absolutely sure they are true?? And, no, I'm not. I'm not at all. I am not absolutely sure that the stories and assumptions I have going on in my head are true. Man, that's a relief... that brings such a sense of calm, peace, strength, and power. It brings me back into the present, and I stop wasting all my energy on worrying and stressing. I am not a victim to the thoughts anymore because I have no conclusive evidence that they are actually true!
The truth is, think about it, the things that dictate whether we live our lives in "heaven" or in "hell" are our thoughts. We make up so many movies and stories in our heads that cause us to feel disappointed, angry, betrayed, and on and on and on. But these thoughts, these stories that we tell ourselves, are almost 98% of the time not coming from any sort of truth. And believing these stories keep us in our own versions of unhappiness, stress, chaos. We can choose to not believe the stories, thereby choosing to live a happier, more peaceful, calmer life. Next time you are bombarded by a story or thought in your head which brings you any sort of chaos, and makes you feel at all out of balance, or stressed, or worried, or angry, or upset, or betrayed, disappointed, etc... Just simply ask yourself:
Is it true? Am I absolutely certain it is true?