Thoughts, much like pollen or germs in the air, are rampant. They are everywhere. They don't originate in our minds, but belong to the collective universe. As Byron Katie is fond of saying, “There are no new, or original, stressful thoughts!”
In the same way germs or allergens affect those with weak immune systems, we, too, are “infected” by negative thoughts, if and when our “mental immunity” is compromised . Only then are we susceptible to the “germs,” i.e. negative thoughts, that surround us.
Our “mental immunity” is weakened by years of believing negative thoughts/beliefs/”stories” about ourselves and others and this leaves us susceptible to the stressful thoughts that run through the mind.
When our “mental immunity” is high, negative thoughts, like germs, may enter the mind but they don't “stick,” they just move on through. Our job is to investigate and adjust any thought that causes us unhappiness so we can build our “mental immunity” against negativity.
6 Responses
I lost my aunt last year,and after that I was too paranoid,panicked at everything and had attacks (I still have this condition) I have anxiety and sometimes negative thoughts about life,death,my loved ones comes into my mind and then I feel like I’m drowning in myself. I’m studying on my university exam so I can’t mess with these problems anymore. I’m tired and I have to focus on my classes.
I’m in this condition for 1 year.
Whenever/wherever I see someone healthy,someone happy,someone lives long I feel a jealousy growing inside of me.
What can I do about this condition?
I can’t hold on anymore. This is turning my life to hell. I can’t live with this.
Lobelia, It sounds like a truly painful time in your life. Life does indeed take us through some really dark passages. I myself have traversed shadowy places within my own consciousness and so I can relate.
You relate this particular dark time to the death of your aunt saying since then you have felt paranoia, anxiety etc. the first question that comes to mind is what the thoughts are related to her death? What exactly do you tell yourself it means that your aunt died?
We know that it is not what happens, but the story, or thoughts we believe, around that happening that determines how we feel? So what do you think it means that your aunt died? About you? About your place in the world? About the world? Are they true? I encourage you to question closely these thoughts, remembering that when we believe what we think, we automatically feel and act as if it is true and then we act in ways that attract responses from the world around us that prove us right. Just by placing a question between you and those beliefs can make a tremendous difference.
There is so much more I would love to say – time and space limits me – please know that I am available for continued dialog either through private sessions or you can join our online community at Reality Formula Live where I share live and am available to members twice a month to work with those seeking to clarify and move past blockages. Find out more at http://www.lynneforrest.com/events
I had two bitter exchanges.one with a work colleague,and the other with my sister.In both instances i felt attacked and i was angry and i wanted to get back at them and in some way punish them for making me feel angry and upset….I noticed that each time i feel angry my thoughts switch to blaming the other person and looking for reasons as to why its their fault..then i want to make them pay for their mistake…so the next time we have an encounter i find myself looking for ways to punish them either by not speaking to them or making their lives difficult…It almost comes out naturally….Its no wonder that i carry so many grudges inside.I resolve them the wrong way…I decided to switch and instead focus on my part of the problem and my anger.I find it difficult to search within myself the belief following my anger and i feel stuck…I also find it so hard to not to blame the outside and i have to keep shifting my focus back to myself each time i hear myself saying…But…
It feels easy to read and understand the concept behind limiting beliefs but when it comes to real life situations i can feel my ego virtually resisting this new concept of changing my beliefs….Its interesting to see how much the beliefs we have about ourselves actually affect how we relate to virtually everyone around us.
Sounds like you are making progress Tracy.
You ask “how does one idenity a true belief that exist within them from emotional drama that may be going on with them as a result of being triggered?”
It is our beliefs that trigger our emotional dramas. We learn to identify our negative beliefs by paying attention to the things that trigger us. These triggers are always a finger pointing to an unhappy personal belief. We pay special attention to our negative reactions so we can follow them in to what the underlying belief is.
There is no other cause of emotional drama besides our own painful beliefs. Our dramas are not caused by something someone said or did. They are caused by the thoughts we think and believe.
When we find ourselves attracted to “bad news,” for instance, we can know that there is a belief prompting that interest. Perhaps we are looking for evidence to support a personal belief about the world as being an unfair, scary or dangerous place. We are attracted to the things that validate our viewpoints/beliefs.
Keep up the worthy introspection!
I just realized that i look for disappointing stories/experiences in the outside world to justify my own limiting stories.I will open a newspaper and be more interested in reading that painful story of failure/frustrations/disappointment….I always wondered why i was so keen in wanting to listen to ther people’s frustrated stories and i feel that partly it is to justify my own disappointment s in life and justify the limited stories i have about prosperity/love and hapiness..
I was reading about the concious/sub concious/superconcious parts of our mind….It resonates so well on how we should choose what goes into our concious mind because this impresses on our subconcious and with practise becomes a belief..whichis projected as a reality…
I am feeling stuck on the beliefs part of it as there are times i am not so clear on what i truly believe…in my subconcious…how does one idenity a true belief that exist within them from emotional drama that may be going on with them as a result of being triggered?
So true and so necessary.
Thank you for your blog.