To feel good. Think good. Choose good. Do good. Repeat! A simple and respected recipe, yet simple is not always easy. After all, if it’s easy, it’s not worth doing. These and other antidotes echo in my mind, as gifts from my parents. Eat only when hungry, never doubt, think positively, follow your heart. Even though simplicity is implied, applying, such treasured guidance usually takes dedicated thought and practice.
To feel good, requires mindfulness of our thoughts. If the mind runs amuck without our oversight, we become oblivious to how thoughts impact our intentions, reactions, and habits. Without thinking about our thoughts, tending to them, and evaluating their truthfulness, we are flying blind. Lack of self-awareness leaves us without the foresight to consciously conduct ourselves with wisdom.
The good news is that we can follow this time-tested recipe. Think good. Think about our thinking. More precisely, question our thoughts. Are they logical, are they loving? Irrational and fearful thoughts lead to illogical and limiting mindsets, which create choices, behaviours, and habits that sabotage our lives. So, to feel good we must think good. Thinking well involves monitoring the validity or quality of our thoughts. The mind needs training, and moment-to-moment calibration for the truth. Otherwise, we easily justify our wants, magnify, or deny our fears, and in general twists the truth to gain immediate gratification. Easy, but not worthy.
For example, during stressful times like financial hardships, health problems, and relationship challenges, our minds may go on auto pilot either negating reality or intensifying issues. The mind attempts to protect us by either understating or overstating our fears. This sends us into a repeat cycle of our sympathetic nervous systems fight or flight response to stress. Without training in mindfulness, we typically overreact or don’t respond at all. By calmly reflecting on our thinking, we can wisely put our stress reactions into perspective. This approach of pausing and seeking clarity, honesty, and injecting big doses of love to put our fear into perspective, is the recipe.
Choosing to recognize loving and logical thoughts over illogical and fear-based thoughts is essential. Choosing to nurture the thoughts we want while deleting limiting thoughts, grows our mindfulness. Allowing our fearful thoughts to stay on the treadmill of self-perpetuating misery, creates escalating fears and a sustained stress state. Persistently thinking clearly about good, creates more goodness. Not that positive, beautiful, and loving thoughts will always stop negative and hurtful things from happening. But it will allow us to respond to life’s hardships with grace and to recognize the opportunities that come when adversity strikes. Because our thoughts determine our perceptions, rational and optimistic thinking, allows us to see more of the positive prospects. Thinking about what we want, over what we fear, focuses our mind and body to better achieve those objectives.
Good thinking also includes pondering plausible obstacles while devising plans that can overcome anticipated or unforeseen pitfalls. Choosing good, implies that we choose to learn from our mistakes, and that we cultivate an attitude which is grateful for what shows up. Part of good thinking is the realization of how little we know. This humble understanding invites open mindedness. The willingness to question what we currently believe, by exploring opposing ideas, grows knowledge and wisdom. When logic and science fail to explain what experience has consistently demonstrated or inspired within us, then having faith becomes part of - choosing good.
By thinking good and choosing to be guided by our logical mind and loving heart, we now must support our mindfulness with action. This simple recipe calls for us to do no harm. However, the reality of our own experiences shows us that by doing good, occasionally we cause some unintended or unavoidable bad. All we can do is our mindful best. When we mess up, let’s not add more harm by being unforgiving, or by not learning from the experience. Our intentions are to do good, so be patient as good actions, like planting seeds, often take time to bear fruit. Sometimes we won’t know the consequences for our actions, thus we must have faith in the recipe. Keep the recipe simple, so when we are under great stress, or even danger, that our path remains uncomplicated and clear in our hearts and minds.
Finally, remember great recipes have been refined over many years of trial and error. Trust in the process of being mindful. Fine tune your consciousness to play out a life that is inspired by truth and kindness. Then simply repeat.
Instructor Chris