Updated: 11/03/2024
You are Not Your Thoughts
Whenever we struggle with anxiety or worry, many times it's the ego telling us things like “you are not good enough”, “you can’t achieve this” etc. This is because the ego wants to keep you "safe" or rather trapped, in your old paradigm, way of thinking. Because of this reason, the ego can even come across as a bully sometimes since the way it responds, is sometimes very disheartening to whatever new goal or desire we want to achieve. A lot of thoughts that you hear inside your head every day therefore aren't coming from your higher self and aren't necessarily even yours but apart from the ego, they are also coming from other people. It happens that we subconsciously pick up on other people's thoughts, especially when we are associated with them in some way and as a result, they may become part of our belief system.
That said, it's vitally important to become more aware of your subconscious thoughts in order to remove or replace them, if necessary, with thoughts that do benefit you. This is because 95% of the thoughts we have on a daily basis are subconscious or unconscious, which means only 5% of them are conscious. Hence the reason you can imagine why most people today still aren't exactly living the life of their dreams.
We think about 60,000-80,000 thoughts per day; it'd almost be impossible to control each and every single one of these thoughts or to eliminate each unwanted thought.
Some people with OCD for example struggle a lot with thinking obsessive thoughts on an every day basis and experience a great deal of having thoughts that they don’t want; yet they still can't help but thinking about them. This of course can be very hard to deal with but even those symptoms can be lessened with the consistent practice of mindfulness and meditation.
"Thoughts are only thoughts"; this is partially true. Thinking the same or similar thoughts over and over again does create certain beliefs and beliefs do manifest. It does not mean however that when simply thinking of something, that it will manifest; it cán happen but not necessarily. What you believe to be true in your heart is what sooner or later, most likely, will manifest.
As previously stated, completely blocking out negative thoughts is near to impossible but it's also not actually necessary. What's more important is your perception about the negative thoughts that you experience. Do you automatically assume or believe that everything you think will manifest? Because if that's the case, you do want to become more mindful and start shifting those thoughts that cause you to think that way, to ones that are more representative of peace, love and harmony.
Moreover, the more you try to control your thoughts, the more you will start thinking about them; so don't do that. What we can control is our perception ánd intention toward these thoughts. We can simply decide whether they have power over us or not. We are the upper hand; we must consciously and carefully choose our thoughts, they should never rule us. Understand that our thoughts are made to work for us, not the other way around.
Here's a great trick that works whenever you witness a thought that you don’t like: observe it and just let it pass you by. See the thought in front of you, in whichever way you like, and see it passing by; just like when you would be sitting on a train and you are passing by the trees and houses outside. Don’t give it any attention, so don’t give it any emotion. This is very important because when you give emotion to a thought, it becomes more and more actualized into physical form. Realize and know that it is only a thought; nothing that in this present moment is actually true or relative.
Remember when you watch a TV show and someone has a devil on one shoulder and an angel on the other one, and the devil starts telling the individual all things that would purposely upset them. This is what it can feel like when you experience a lot of negative thoughts and you try to ignore them. Negativity is simply a part of our dual natured reality with its many opposing forces; however we must not let it control our emotional state. This is important if you don't want to manifest things you don't want into your life. When you feel as if something is real, then your thoughts control you and that is when your words can become physical and will be experienced by you. From Bible verse John 1:14: "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
That is, we must attempt to never let our thoughts control us in a negative way. You must instead demand your subconscious to bring you what you want with your thoughts. You, as a matter of fact, affirm constantly to your subconscious "what you want" with your thoughts and emotions. There is no right or wrong or real or false to your subconscious mind; anything is possible. Everything in reality is an exact copy of what's within the collective's subconscious; every small piece contains the larger whole.
Try meditating regularly, preferably on a daily basis right after waking up or just before bedtime. It's best to do this in the morning right after you wake up if you can or right before you go to sleep, when your brain waves are in theta state. Theta is the intriguing border between the conscious and the subconscious worlds, which is most beneficial for meditation. The subconscious mind is then more receptive to receive information from the superconscious mind, the higher mind or also called the higher self.
Choose a meditation on f.e. Youtube, specifically to clear subconscious blocks. If you have no experience with meditation at all, you can choose to start off with a guided meditation. Make sure you are comfortable; sit somewhere where there is complete silence, dim the lights, then sit up straight with your legs crossed in lotus position and close your eyes.
Now, relax and clear your mind completely. Release any thoughts you might have during this meditation. Meditation is simply the art of doing nothing. Therefore don't react or engage with anything you may experience in your mind. Do nothing but just be aware and observe what you experience from your senses: any sensations, smells, noises etc. If you do have negative thoughts popping up in your mind during meditation, use the exercise I mentioned previously above.
By repeating your daily meditation, you will notice your mind becoming much more calm and less reactive to stress responses and negative thinking. You will also gradually elevate your awareness and raise consciousness, which is very exciting. If you do this every morning, you will be starting off your day more peacefully and thoughts you wish to let go of will slowly but surely move to the background.