These days I am more automatically reaching for satisfaction. Each day, no matter what I’m doing, I am continually ask myself “Is this satisfying?” If the answer is “No,” then I immediately start to get present to see what is going on. It is a highly powerful tool for getting myself focused on good-feeling thoughts.
In going through this process, my sensitivity to satisfaction is starting to become the new normal. I am amazed at how off course I was for so many years. That is because I believed thoughts that were completely unsatisfying, and I harbored these thoughts sometimes for decades as if they were true. This seems marvelous to me, and not in a good way.
I’m sure I’m not alone on this. How many of us go through years and years entertaining thoughts and beliefs that we know just suck! I’m not saying it’s not right for someone else, what I’m saying is, how often we go along with thoughts we don’t like, don’t find satisfying, and actually don’t believe, but by acquiescing to them, we act as if they are true. If enough people repeat a lie, or if a lie is repeated enough time to carry conviction and force behind it, it can start to appear true.
Even when it does nothing but suck.
Even something that may be someone else’s truth may not be true or workable for you. I could say to the world, “Everyone should express themselves through a personal blog! It’s a lot of fun, and a great way to get your creative rocks off!” And yes, that might be true for me, but it’s probably not true for most people. Sure, there are some people who need to hear that because they would like to start a blog but just haven’t got up the courage to, or didn’t know they actually could. But to say that everyone on Earth should have a blog just doesn’t make any sense!
Having a blog is a personal choice. Your time on Earth is precious, so if you choose to use a little of it to maintain a personal blog, I support you. But if that option doesn’t really resonate for your personal, why bother? There are so many other things you can do with your time!
The point I’m trying to make here is, how many of us, and how much of the time do we spend acting as if thoughts we don’t like are true, as if we don’t have a choice? Like I said, I spent sometimes decades doing that. After all that time, I have concluded that it is unsatisfying to harbor thoughts that don’t actually jive with my inner being. It never really works, and all these thoughts have caused is confusion and frustration.
Let the confusion end here! I believe that life is meant to be fun. I believe that I create my own experience. I believe that I get to pick and choose how I want that experience to be. I believe that if it is not satisfying for me, then it doesn’t work.
Just like Marie Kondo says in Tidying Up, if it doesn’t spark joy, why keep it? There’s a reason I enjoy that show. It represents a philosophy of joy. It says, why should you tolerate things in your own home that don’t spark joy?
And so I say, why should you tolerate thoughts in your own head that don’t spark joy? If you really knew you had a choice on the matter, would you choose new thoughts? Or would you keep the old thoughts, even if they were unsatisfying?
I know which one I choose. How about you?