If you read my Easter nudge, you’lI know I shared some photos from my recent trip to the tulip gardens in Amsterdam. I had so many photos that I couldn’t resist sharing a couple more! For those of you who did see it, thanks for your lovely comments and emails … so glad the nudge resonated.
Peace of mind exists in the moment
Picking up on my previous theme of living more in your life than in your thoughts, I’ve come to see that peace of mind is always more accessible in the moment.
Picture for a minute how much energy can be expended on overthinking a (seemingly) problematic issue, situation, circumstance or relationship from the past – or imagined in the future – not to mention how much of your time that can waste.
Have you noticed how often that the more you overthink it, the more stirred up and uncomfortable you can start to feel?
Missing from the moment
I call this ‘missing from the moment’. Because once those noisy thoughts start to clog up your mind, it can set off a train of thought that can be hard to jump off, taking us out of our present life where we actually are.
It also leaves so much less space for fresh thinking and clarity to naturally come in.
We can’t control the noisy thinking, or endless thoughts that can loop around our heads, but we can see them for what they are … just thoughts crossing our mind, and, if left alone, will just pass through.
No more real than watching a film
If you’ve ever watched a film and thought about it long after it ended, that’s such a good metaphor for the nature of thought.
Although we know that a film isn’t real life, it doesn’t mean we don’t feel it as real when we’re watching it. It explains why years ago with the earliest movies people ran out of the cinemas when they saw a train coming towards them on the screen.
The same applies to our personal thinking. Once we’re off on a train of thought, it’s no more true than watching a made up film or tv programme. But if we were to watch a film focusing on all the special effects or direction that had gone into its production, it wouldn’t make it very enjoyable … much the same with life.
It’s just that thoughts create feelings and so we experience them as real.
And much like a scary movie I can always walk out of, it’s lovely to know that’s how thoughts work too. Seeing the thought/feeling connection means there’s nothing to overthink, change or do. If I’m not thinking it, I’m not feeling it, my mind naturally settles and I’m back in the present moment.
Wishing you a great rest of your Friday and a peaceful weekend.
All the best for now
Tamsin
PS And here’s some hyacinths in Amsterdam – the smell was amazing!
