Bryon Katie is one of my favorite authors. She provides simple techniques to question our thoughts and beliefs. One of her core messages is: when we argue with “what is”, we suffer.
Take a minute and think about issues that you may be suffering. Most likely, you are fighting “what is” and focusing on “what should be”. Some of the thoughts and beliefs are based on what you understood and accepted as a child. Perhaps this is a thought and/or belief that has persisted in your parents and grand parents as well.
Just consider a simple belief, “it should be cooler outside”, fighting what is; versus “it is hot outside”, stating what is. Which one is more stressful? You may have a belief that, “Family and friends should always help me”; versus reality (what is), “I received help from two people and I am grateful for it”. Observe how such simple beliefs bring us grief and suffering without doing anything positive for us. We need to question our thoughts (ask is it true?) and ask ourselves who we would be without such thoughts. Most likely the answer will be a happier and more joyful person without those thoughts and beliefs.
In the context of Tending to Your Garden Within, it is important to reduce stress in our garden within by questioning thoughts and beliefs that we have accepted as truth.
Painful Thoughts
The painful thoughts
I have bought into.
The thoughts that
have no virtue.
The beliefs that make me blue.
Why I am residing in such a zoo?
To question my thoughts is taboo.
What I was told to believe is untrue.
The belief has kept me stuck
like a statue.
The belief has kept my soul in goo.
The belief begs me for review.
The beliefs that give me
no meaningful clues.
The painful thoughts
I have bought into.
Copyright @ 2011 by Shervin Hojat
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