What does the conversation in your head sound like?

Most people carry a conversation inside of their head all day. They’re constantly judging what situations mean, predicting what’s coming in the future, and what’s going on right now. Most people assume that that voice inside of their head is themselves, and that the voice constantly critiquing and judging is where their intelligence and their power comes from. But neither is true.

The voice inside of your head is really your ego. It’s the part of you that is attached to results. It’s also the part of you that created the entire idea of results. Without it, advanced society wouldn’t be possible, but with too much of it, a meaningful, fulfilled life is impossible.

What’s that supposed to mean?

The dialog inside of each of us judges based on the information it already has. Because it can only judge based on what it’s already experienced or learned, it is incapable of truly grasping any situation outside of its immediate self. Consider a person who’s in debt. Their ego may decide being in debt is a very bad thing, and their inner being may believe that to be true too. So the ego decides to feel bad. It starts a conversation with itself explaining why this happened, and finds someone to blame. But the ego doesn’t possess all information. It doesn’t know whether your debt is temporary or long term, and it can’t tell whether it’s really good or bad.

So you’ve lost money and time, but is the lesson of proper financial management worth more than your time spent worrying about finances? And why is there worry? Where does that come from?

Worry is a direct result of the ego. It sets itself up to become important when there’s a problem. By worrying we get nothing done. Instead, we give ourselves the emotion of drama and of importance of our problems. Instead, we should be concentrating on creating a change for ourselves.

How many of your thoughts are negative and useless? For even the most intelligent people, negative thoughts are a constant threat to happiness and a meaningful life. If we get bound up in negativity, we lose our opportunity to create. This is why we need mental discipline and awareness. Without these, even the most promising of minds are incapable of producing what the world needs most.

So what’s a mental fast?

I believe everything purported to be good should be testable by personal experience. If a religion is really good, incorporating it should immediately improve the quality of my life, and those around me. If it doesn’t, then it isn’t a fit, and I gave it a try. The same with your mental fast. Give it a trial period, and if it works for you, keep it. If it doesn’t, drop it. Move on to the next thing.

My mental fast is freedom from negative thoughts for 10 days. It may seem like an impossible task, but as soon I find myself slipping into a negative thought pattern, I snap myself out of it. I ask myself what actions I can take instead of dwelling on what is or isn’t right with my life situation. If I can’t take any action, I accept the situation for what it is, and try not to judge it. The majority of bad situations from my past have turned out in a positive way, and with the benefit of hindsight, I realize I really can’t judge them as good or bad, even from this far away. I remind myself of this, and I move on.

The benefits are amazing. I’ve been doing this for two days, and already my mind is much more disciplined than it was before. I’m aware of little things that would have nagged me before, and now I drop them without a second thought. I’ve started developing a real sense of gratitude for life. Learning to control my mind in this way has opened the doors for potential. If I can make this big of a change in my thought patterns in two days, imagine what I can do when I really examine the processes of my mind.

So what are you waiting for? Start examining your thoughts, and eliminate the negative and worry. They’re useless.

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This entry was posted on Monday, January 22nd, 2007 at 9:11 pm and is filed under Philosophy, The Big Picture. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.