Escaping OCD behaviors
Of course, if we saw the world as very nice or perfect, we’d be more at peace, right? Every experience of life consists of us viewing a thought brought to consciousness. We have the power to take on thought and in doing so, life will take on whatever form is provided by that thought. The thought could present a pleasant experience or an unpleasant one and if we take the thought seriously, we’ll have whatever kind of experience is contained in it. So, let’s take a look at an illustration from my book “Discovery Mode” regarding the relationship between our state of mind and the thinking available to us.
When or spirits are up, our thinking tends to be broad and bright making life a pleasant experience. However, if are spirits are down, our thinking narrows and darkens providing us with a troubling view of life. It is quite natural in such low spirits that we seek to find a way to end the suffering we experience. The problem is that we attempt to address the situation with the thinking available (see the black circle), but every thought we come up with provides a black view of the world. The mind can race as it drops one of the few unsatisfactory thoughts available for the next one. There’s no way we can think ourselves out of this. However, there is good news. “There’s a light within us that never leaves and can never be taken from us. It is not contingent upon any external circumstances or what has happened in our lives. Evidence for this is the fact that without a troubling thought on our minds, we naturally and effortlessly become positive — we experience peace, mental health and feel the warmth of the love within. We don’t have to do anything or think anything to make it happen. It is just the way we are built. This is our human consciousness — the light of our world.” — quote is from “Shooting Arrows at the Moon” by Phil Kromka. How we get to higher spirits is to refuse to entertain troubling thoughts. Just let them pass. Stones don’t weigh us down unless we hold onto them. In a similar manner, troubling thoughts won’t bother us if we don’t hold onto them. Yes, they may show up, but we can let them pass like speeding cars on the freeway. They’ll have very little effect. As our minds quiet down, we find peace and warmth rising from within. As a result, our view of life improves, and we feel much less compelled to make any adjustments. “Life is not supposed to make us happy. Love and happiness are bundled into our composition. We are the bringers of love and happiness.” The correct flow of love is from within out to the world in which we dwell. Waking up to this is like finding ourselves on a river’s bank on a pleasant afternoon watching the water flow by. Sometime the water is high, sometimes low, sometimes muddy, sometimes clear, but the river’s bank is constant and steady — we can also dance on the bank if we’d like.
