Sometimes it seems like there are endless stressful thoughts, infinitely giving birth in our minds.
A constant stream of complaints, disturbances…ways we think life could be improved, even if they are very minor.
I’ve mentioned it before…it’s that voice that has something to say about EVERYTHING that happens.
However, looking at all these thoughts, there seem to be only a few beliefs that many of our thought-patterns could fit into….sort of like how they could be summed up.
Core underlying beliefs.
- I am not safe.
- Something is missing.
- Something is wrong.
There may be more beliefs than these, but looking at all I’ve ever noticed that has caused pain, it seems like the stressful, troubling, difficult thinking and feeling always comes out of these core places.
Believing these thoughts, without questioning and examining them, produce fear.
If I think someone left me? Yes…I’m thinking something (that person) is missing, and something is wrong and I’m not safe.
If I have a huge gigantic craving for compulsive binge-eating? I am thinking something is missing, and I’m not safe.
If I am worried about how much money I’ll have in the future? I am believing I won’t be safe, and something will be missing, and something will be wrong.
Even if my teenager daughter snaps at me…and I feel defensive…I am believing I’m not safe, and something is wrong.
It is a really crazy opposite flip to look at the opposites, to consider them as true or truer.
And VERY exciting.
What if we didn’t believe these core underlying beliefs, and when they appeared, we did not think that they were true?
What if instead, when something scary happened, whether with a person we know, an incident, a dramatic event….what if as we reviewed it carefully, we found genuine examples for the following turnarounds, the opposite thoughts of our original ones:
- I am safe
- Nothing is missing, Something is coming
- Nothing is wrong, Something is right
Even just sitting with the possibility of these turnarounds being as true or truer opens up a bigger awareness of the world, and can change our entire perception of the past.
The way to see this clearly is by doing each step of The Work, and finding very specific examples of how these opposite thoughts are also true.
Is it possible that I am completely safe, even though my heart is racing and someone just got mad at me?
Is it possible that something wonderful is coming, that nothing is missing, that nothing is ultimately wrong, that something is very right HERE, on this planet, in your life…even if something very, very difficult has occurred?
See if you can find the opposites, in this wild world of duality, for the thoughts you’ve been believing.
It doesn’t mean denying the uncomfortable thoughts….it means expanding your world, your mind, and your thinking.
It means making the world much bigger, and very exciting.
“A mind that doesn’t question its judgments, makes the world very small and dangerous.”~Byron Katie
Much love, Grace