In those first few moments in the morning when you are not fully awake, you are not really aware of who you are or even where you are. It's in these precious moments you are not tied to anything you were before. You are pure potential. These moments are fleeting and gone before realizing who and where you are. If you spend a bit of time with this thought, I believe you know what I'm talking about. If not, pay attention tomorrow as you awaken.
After you awaken fully and your operating systems are online, the programs you were running yesterday start to re-engage and become active. You will remember where you live, what relationships you have, where you work, the emotions you've been feeling, the joy or anger you felt or whatever was "top-of-mind" will re-establish itself in your active thoughts. You will become fully online as a facsimile of the self you were just before you fell asleep. It might even take you few hours to recall all of the emotions and thoughts you were dealing with before drifting off to sleep just a few hours before.
Now consider this. What if you woke up and decided to choose what to pay attention to and what to let go of from the prior day, weeks, months or years? There is no requirement to feel or be the way you were. This concept is at the core of understanding that the emotions you feel are created and curated by your mind. For most people it is their Ego mind that has been ruling much of their waking life. And the real kicker is, you might have no idea that this is actually an illusion you've come to believe as fact or reality.
“When you become the master of your mind, you are master of everything.” - Swami Satchidananda
Much of what we know as "truth" has been handed down to us over generations through our DNA and from our environment. Before we are even born, we may have hundreds of years of genetically embedded predispositions already programmed into us. Right out of the box, we have a ready-made set of behaviors followed up by a family or environment that is also designed to support the illusion that our thoughts and feelings are a direct reflection of who and what we are. We don't realize that it is truly an illusion that we are stuck inside of a box of our emotions. We do not realize we can kick that box off from us and choose how we want to feel and what we want to believe.
The first step in breaking the spell you are under is by simply being willing to consider that what I've said is true. Consider that you can choose how you feel at any moment and under any circumstance. Then, as you go about your day, start to notice that there are moments when you completely forget some or all of the emotions you've been feeling, due to being distracted with something else.
Consider this scenario as an example; Perhaps you are walking down the sidewalk and contemplating a relationship that isn't going well and you are consumed with anger. Maybe your breath is short, and you can feel the muscle tension in your neck and jaw. Then, suddenly you see a small child wandering out into the street and there is oncoming traffic approaching. You immediately start running toward the child, scoop them up and take them off the street. You sit down with them and make sure they are okay. You might even hug them if they are crying. When you find the child's guardian, you are overcome with happiness that they are okay and safe.
What happened to all the thoughts and anger you were feeling while you were hugging the child and making sure they were safe? Was it there at all? How long did it take for you to remember you were angry? Might you be able to see that the anger is something you've created and decided to feel again? Just like waking up from deep sleep, you remind yourself of the emotional programs of previous moments.
If you practice having awareness of your thoughts, over time you will see their source and your emotional reactions to things will slow down. You will gain space between an experience and choosing how to respond to a situation. Eventually you will know and experience more contentment with the ability to flow with life more easily.
Dwight Raatz, Author, Personal Coach & Konsilisto
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