We are culturally conditioned to believe that the way we live our life is wrong, that how we spend our time is not right. Something else should be happening by our person, something different. We should be doing things differently. It fascinates me how normal this thought feels, comfortable in fact (because it’s familiar), even though the message it carries goes against reality.
There is nothing to do to obey or appease this thought. The only thing to do is recognize that the belief inside the thought cannot possibly be true. How we behave, or act, only takes place by our body, which must always be in the space and activity it is occupying. That is its precise physical status. If we observe the body in its activities, its actions, why would we believe that what we see is not in fact happening?
We don’t do this with any of our other observations. We understand that what is, is, especially since we can only witness something after it’s already occurring. We don’t need to question reality because it is concrete and absolute. It is true that the occurrence of our thoughts is also concrete and absolute, because they too are happening. But that shouldn’t be confused with the information on our thoughts. If it tells us something that is not a reflection of reality (that what we are doing shouldn’t be happening, or that something we are not doing should be happening, for some examples) then it is clearly misinformed. I think of my thoughts as a gossipy neighbor who always has something to say, but is generally only commenting, predicting or speculating. We always trust evidence over a gossipy neighbor.
Don’t be so quick to trust your thoughts if they don’t match the evidence, i.e., your personal physical reality (what you find yourself doing from moment to moment). What you do is always guaranteed to be right, because it is all that is physically possible. It is an is whereas thoughts are a shot in the dark.
Jill Eng 