Thought Matters

I used to be sceptical about the concept of Manifestation. And then my son got into it and due to his influence, I began reading up on, and practicing Manifestation. I soon saw it to be the most self-evident concept imaginable. ‘I think therefore I am.’

I’m no expert on Manifestation but for me two of the most fundamental understandings are that:

1)       Your thoughts influence your life

2)       You are responsible for your thoughts

I think for many of us our thought patterns feel so deep-rooted, so intertwined with who we are that we don’t realise we can change them. Often, we can’t even see them to give ourselves the opportunity to change them. Maybe we don’t want to change them for fear of killing ourselves off. What or who is the cynical guy without his cynical barbs. The depressed guy without his depression. The judgemental without their judgement. I know people who would hardly exist without their cynicism, depression and judgement and maybe that’s why they perpetuate these traits.

Many of us behave as victims even if we don’t believe that we do. I say that I am responsible for my life. I believe that I am responsible for my life. But in the background of my mind, not quite the subconscious, runs this constant whinge fest. Sometimes there is the sense that the whingeing, the victimhood serves us. The me-against-the-world mentality. The I’ll-show-them mentality. But when I get into this mindset I’ve always had the deepest, vaguest suspicion that this affects me negatively. I’m fuelled by it temporarily and then I’m left feeling a little bit depleted.

The satisfaction that comes from whinging with my colleagues about the company, the management etc. is palpable. Everyone starts bouncing off each other, offering new experiences and evidence of management incompetence. And everyone eggs each other on, reinforcing these negative beliefs. But I’ve never once seen an example where this whingeing has helped any of us in a practical sense. Yes we gain a sense of camaraderie and yes we get to express our frustrations, but rarely do our circumstances improve. We just get dragged further into the weeds.

Focussing on others; for many of us I think this takes up 50% or more of our mental energy, whether it be the neighbours, colleagues, celebs, gossip, politicians, migrants, influencers, social media friends, nepo babies, conspiracy theorists.

Many of us are thankful for our lazy/feckless/incompetent colleagues so that we can bitch about them. And don’t we love our amoral colleagues more than any other.

My love of True Crime comes from the satisfaction of not being as depraved as the perpetrators of these crimes. I want them to get life without the possibility of parole because the idea of it warps my mind so completely. Or sometimes they get 120 years and I wonder if some technological advancement might increase the average lifespan to 150 or 200 years during their incarceration and they will eventually get to have decades of freedom.

My God we love the distraction of gossip, comment sections, bitching. And this stuff plays on our mind long after finishing the gossip session or reading the comments. Sometimes I don’t sleep as I hone my arguments against some on-line nemesis, for all intents and purposes a virtual or non-existent foe.

For me it’s not relevant whether I think the chatterboxes are right or wrong. It matters that the chatter is distracting and unhelpful.

Now, morning and night I practice gratitude, and I focus on my own desires and ambitions. Undoubtedly, I feel better for it.