“You have so many layers, that you can peel away a few, and everyone’s so shocked or impressed that you’re baring your soul, while to you it’s nothing, because you know you’ve twenty more layers to go.”
~ Craig Thompson
The sky this morning was filled with so many layers of clouds! At first the high fluffies were red, then the clouds right above St. John lit up like a strand of lights, then a few more, until finally the sun rose.
They made me think of the many layers of life. The average human thinks 70,000 thoughts in a day. So I’ve had 1,212,540,000 thoughts in my head so far in this lifetime … And it just keeps on going. It’s mind boggling really !!
What about the time I’ve just spent with my friend, as we are getting to know one another? What does that really mean??? It’s as much about the common time we spent together, each with our own perception of the present, filtered through our experiential existence. It’s somewhat about the stories that we shared of our past, the hopes and dreams we have for the future. But just as that quote says, we are like an onion. Is there ever really a center ?? As life moves, so does the onion grow more layers as other layers are being peeled off. Underneath it all, we just share this single moment, the one love.
Googling how many thoughts we have in a day brought me to a powerful article on toxic thinking.
http://drleaf.com/thought_life.php
This author says we have more like 30,000 thoughts each day and that 87-95% of our illnesses are a direct result of our thought life. He calls it an epidemic of toxic emotions. Research shows that fear, all on its own, triggers more than 1,400 known physical and chemical responses and activates more than 30 different hormones. Medical research increasingly points to the fact that thinking and consciously controlling your thought life is one of the best ways of detoxing your brain. It allows you to get rid of those toxic thoughts and emotions that can consume and control your mind.
Through meditation practice, I couldn’t agree more. As I began to watch my thoughts, I was amazed at what was going on in there that I wasn’t even aware of. Buddha says that simply by shining the light of awareness, we begin the process of healing.
Ask yourself: How many “could-have”, “would-have”, “should-have” statements have you made today?
How many “if onlys” were part of your inner vocabulary today? How many times have you replayed in your head a conversation or situation that pained you, or one that hasn’t even occurred yet?
So today, I’ll think 70,000 more thoughts. But with practice, I’ll stay more in the present, less in the past, and less in my thinking head. How about you? Whatever you are thinking, I hope it’ll be happy, free of should haves. Happy Saturday ❤
