What You Really, Really Want

Dear Reader,

Now that February has arrived, it’s a good time to check in – what do you really want for this year? You may have started off 2011 with some goals or ideas – how do they feel now? Any changes there? Still happy with them, or are you feeling like other ideas may be floating below the surface? Notice that I asked how your goals feel – not what you think of them. Often, your inner truth is more effectively revealed by how you feel than by what you think.

Sometimes, it can be easy to think we want one thing, when deep down we really want something else. Often, in fact, our thoughts, our analysis, those churning mental wheels, can interfere with finding and following our most satisfying path in life.

This is where I get into what could be considered part two of last week’s post.

If you recall, last week I focused on how much (or how little) free time we really have in our lives, and the importance of being aware of how we use that time. I focused mainly on the activities with which we tend to fill our spare hours (TV, Internet surfing, etc) but how we think during our free time is perhaps even more important to consider.

The latest estimate from neuroscientists is that the typical human being experiences roughly 40,000 to 60,000 thoughts per day. That’s a lot of thoughts – do you know the nature of yours? Are they more negative, or more positive? How many of those thoughts are worry-related? Or related to what you need to do next? Or whether you have been treated fairly, or what someone thinks of you? Or perhaps, based in self judgement?

How many of those thoughts are happy thoughts? How many are acknowledgements of the beauty around you, or how grateful you are, or how much you love the people in your life?

What we think about we tend to create more of in our lives…

So doesn’t it make sense to become more aware of the nature of those 60,000 thoughts we have each day, and if we don’t like what we find – to change them?

Yes, we can change them.

We often spend years building up layers of thought about who we think we are, and how we think the world is. Then, we actually experience that illusionary thought world instead of directly experiencing reality itself.

One way to cut through our thought games is to focus on our senses – that smell in the air of moist earth, or the sound of popcorn popping, or the feeling of our arms swinging as we walk through the park. Those sensations place us directly in the present moment, and when we genuinely experience the present – anything is possible.

When we cut through our mental gymnastics (“I really messed up that interview; I wonder if she is pissed off with me; what if I forget something at the grocery store; I should be making more money than I am…”) and simply experience the present moment, we are freed up to hear the wisdom of our heart.

That wisdom, dear reader, will come through for you every time. Enjoy the beginning of February, with the days getting longer, ditch that monkey mind for a little while and discover what you really want for 2011.

I honor your loving heart,

John