Want to make better decisions? Meditation for 7/18/14

Folly Beach SC

“If you want to find God, hang out in the space between your thoughts.”  - Alan Cohen

“Quit reacting.  Start Responding.”  - Anon

    Learning to pause is an important skill.  Often it is just a split second between a stimulus, or event if you will, the arising of the corresponding impulse our brain gives us, and our acting on that impulse.  It seems that the closer the stimulus affects one of our deep seated fears, the more impetuous and vehement our reaction is.  Our fears usually translate into anger and for that moment our brain convinces us so thoroughly that retaliation or flight is the answer that the notion that there is any other way to respond eludes us.  This usually results in problems more difficult to overcome than the issue that started the whole thing.

     If we are ever to break free of our thinking mind, the first step is to learn to create gaps in our thinking so that there is space for an intuitive thought to come through.  Since when taken by surprise we will revert to reaction habits we have developed, if we want to develop self control it makes sense that we start when we do not feel threatened.  A good way to do this is to start practicing the automatic discarding of the first thought that comes to our head in situations.  We learn to pause before doing things and ask for a better action to meet our current situation.  We might even ask a second or a third time as other thoughts come and we realize that they are perhaps still not the best action we can take.  Often we realize that no response is the best one, completely contrary to what our first notion was.  Learning to do this – to actively challenge our brain and try to create a gap for inspiration to come through carries benefits beyond just the quality of our actions.

     This exercise is one of the first ways that we can begin to detach from our ego, and what a blessing it is if our mind is determined to obsess about something.  Over time as we develop this “third person” within ourselves we gain much perspective on ourselves, and we begin creating longer and longer gaps between thoughts.  At the same time, we develop a stronger awareness of that small voice within that would guide us through these intuitions and inspirations.  Before we know it, our ability to create a space between our thoughts has developed to where we are able to meditate, or to quietly just “be” in any circumstances – far more aware of what is actually happening around us than ever before yet not nearly so erratically emotionally invested in it.  It is one big step that we can take away from ourselves and toward the deep and abiding love and peace that dwell in the spirit within – and it pays dividends from the first time we practice it. 

Today, may I pause.  

Happy Friday !!

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