“We can remind ourselves that these [negative thought patterns] are just visiting, they’re not essentially who we are.”
For me, that is the crux of this meditation. Thoughts may become things but we are not essentially our negative thought patterns. Or, at least, we don’t have to be, provided we can figure out ways to recognize them, name them, even thank them for visiting – and then let them go. So simple, so obvious, so basic – and so hard for lots of us to do. Well, very hard for me to do, at any rate, and this is basically all about me right now ;).
Lent is right around the corner – every year for Lent, instead of giving up a vice or bad habit, I try to replace a vice or bad habit with a good one. This year it might be as simple as being mindful of letting go negative thought patterns. Allow more space for the positive and pleasant thought patterns to come and visit.
