All of us have had some lifetimes where life was really simple. Perhaps it was a Buddhist monk with no possessions, begging for food; or a Christian nun or monk lifetime in a nunnery or monastery where you didn’t have to deal with the outside world very much; or a Hindu meditating on the mountaintop; or someone with few possessions and no family.
There were some benefits to those kinds of lifetimes, such as the ability to move about freely, not having much responsibility, or not having to create in the outside world, and not being so encumbered. But those kinds of lifetimes aren’t very feasible these days in our culture.
In what kinds of ways is your life simple?
In what kinds of ways is your life complicated?
Most people I talk to say their lives are more complicated. There are logistics to handle with time and kids and work and transportation and relationships, plus everyday chores like shopping and bills. There’s so much stress, anxiety and fear around money, relationships, or family. Then there’s the world of the city or town you live in, which can get complicated, plus the national news, which is very complicated and distressing.
In order to simplify things, most people look to the outside: how to simplify the busy-ness, set priorities, work through confusion. But then there’s another distraction which leads down another rabbit hole.
One way to look at this issue is to look at thought process:
A simple thought process creates a simple life;
A complicated thought process creates a complicated life.
It’s important to remember that wherever your attention dwells becomes your experience.
You can always ask yourself two questions:
1) Where is my attention?
2) Is that what I want?
Do you pay attention to what you’re thinking, to where your attention goes? During your day, are you in present time, future time, or past time?
Thinking/attention patterns cause stress and anxiety.
If you’re in future time, you are probably worrying, wondering what’s next on your to-do list, or playing the “what if” game: what if this happens, or what if that doesn’t happen? If you’re in past time, you might be thinking about what you should have done instead of what you actually did, second-guessing yourself. Maybe you obsess about an old relationship, or sit in guilt or resentment. All of these thinking/attention patterns cause stress and anxiety.
Your mind is like a computer – whatever you program in comes out. Your mind isn’t discriminating about what goes in, it just comes out in some form or another.
The good news is you are in charge.
The good news is you are in charge of what goes in. These are your pictures and thought processes. You might consider having some mental discipline, or presence of mind. This will keep your life much simpler.
For example, if you worry a lot, you are actually putting a lot of energy into that worry picture. It then begins to formulate into manifestation. You need to ask yourself if you want to manifest what you’re worrying about, or if you want to be experiencing that much stress. If not, you need to discipline yourself so that you don’t allow yourself to go into worry. Pull your attention back into the center of your head.
Your input becomes your output.
Or maybe you watch a lot of TV, that’s easy to do these days. The politics are interesting, but it might cause you to worry or go into fear. Maybe you don’t watch politics, but you need to ask yourself if the shows you do watch are causing certain images to stick into your brain. Ask yourself if that’s the kind of input you want, because it can become your output.
The major source of input is from yourself – your self-talk. Do you invalidate yourself, judge yourself, criticize yourself? Do you call yourself stupid? If so, that is all input, and it will come out in various ways, including self-disempowerment. You need to ask yourself: is that what I want? If not, you need to again discipline yourself and not go into your self-judgment and self-invalidation. Try self-validation and self-acceptance.
How about training yourself in mental discipline?
All of you have trained yourself in something: exercise, a sport, cooking, some musical instrument, meditation, or whatever. How about training yourself in mental discipline, how you think and what pictures you allow yourself to go into and to create?
A good way to start is to practice being grounded, in the center of your head, with boundaries. Don’t let yourself sit in your pictures, or go into future or past time. Be aware of where your attention goes, and pull it back into the center of your head – over and over again. Stay present. Eventually you will be in charge of your thoughts and where your attention goes.
Your life will become much simpler.
As always, thanks for supporting Psychic Horizons & the Church of Natural Grace with your sustainable giving! It truly makes a difference, both for us and for you.
Best regards,
Rev. Laura Hopper
Originally published May 26, 2019