I have an ongoing preoccupation with the “aligned-ness” of my thoughts. That is, I think a lot about how my thoughts feel to me. This is very helpful, as it is helping me identify when my thoughts are on the right track–that is, in alignment–and when they are… uh… not.
Recently an interesting thing happened to me around this. I happened to be running. In quick succession I thought about two different topics in my life* that are important to me. It occurred to me that I had basically the exact opposite attitude about these two subjects.
More specifically, I thought about one topic this way:
- “Wow, this is so exciting! I love focusing on this! This is awesome! Heck yeah!” So I am excited, eager, curious, paying a lot of attention, looking forward to more, positive and optimistic. I’m aligned and having a good time, ready for more!
Sounds nice, right? Here’s how I thought about the other subject:
- “Oh shit. This is awful. I don’t want to pay attention to this. Man, maybe if I leave it alone nothing too bad will happen.” Yikes. So here, there’s avoidance, there’s pessimism and resistance, and clearly my thoughts are concerned about something unwanted to happen. It’s unhappy and powerless.
Which would you rather spend time on a long car ride with?!
In the first case, I have it going on! My attitude is POSITIVE. I’m having a good time. There’s life, there’s expansion, there’s possibility.
In the second case, there’s…fear. There’s concern. There’s a focus on problems and something bad happening.
It’s basically a confused mess.
Again, yikes.
Someday I will “have it going on” in every area that is important to me :). In the meantime, I’m glad to see the thoughts that were passing through my brain, even if they were negative. Becoming aware is a good first step!
*I prefer not identify what the “bad” topic is right now. But here’s a hint. 🙂 And here’s a hint about the “good” topic, too.