Listen to Your Thoughts. They Control Your Life.
“The observer self is that aspect of consciousness which can watch us act like fools and stand back at a safe distance, shaking its head in disbelief. It is capable of observing our behaviors with an even, unattached point of view. The observer can help us see our wounded areas, our habitual patterns, and our inner selves more clearly, without the interference of the ego and its desire to maintain the status quo. The observer self is an invaluable ally in personal growth that can lead us into higher levels of consciousness.” William Harryman
1.From My Mind’s Junk-Drawer by Alexis Rose:
It seems I have a junk drawer in my mind. It’s different than the “monkey-mind” I get when I sit down to meditate. This is the place where random mind-spinning thoughts live when I try to sleep. Where self-doubt resides waiting to be pulled out, or the shoulds, or the why’s, or the did you remember to thoughts begin to spin.
One of the terrible symptoms of PTSD is nightmares. One of the tools to help increase your chances for better sleep is to practice good sleep hygiene. I usually listen to a podcast every night to help stave off the night jitters and stop my mind from churning. The other night I was laying there enjoying the breeze coming through the window, and BAM, an image from an old horror movie popped in my head.
Somehow that picture popped up in my minds-eye and wouldn’t leave. I even said aloud, “that’s dumb, go away now,” and turned up the podcast that I was listening to, and interested in hearing. But, in the junk drawer of my mind, that one clown turned into a whole posse and would not get out of my head.
That’s when I decided that I must have a junk drawer in my mind. It conveniently holds the random bits of life that unconsciously stray in, as well as the little things I toss in there with the verbiage, “I’ll just think about that later, I don’t have time right now.”
2. From Visualize your ‘Ego” as a ventriloquist Dummy by Marty:
Think of how our mind is constructed. One of the most complex organs ever found, capable of tremendous achievement or extreme suffering.
One of the parts we invent has no origin or real existence. Yes, it is the “Ego”. Search every part of your mind and an ego can not be found.
Yes, we invent this “Ego” for identity, I, me, mine! Identity is its purpose. Nothing more.
Think of your “Ego” as a ventriloquist dummy. We give that damn puppet power and life, not command of our being.
That dummy runs a good part of our life unfortunately.
The Dummy is the one who feels resentment, judges constantly, and feels unworthy. The “Ego” is never equal to another “Ego”. He/She judges itself superior or inferior to all “Ego’s” it encounters.
Here in lies the rub, we never feel complete when the “Ego” is in control.
That means happiness is impossible.
One day I was having a conversation with a friend and he said something upsetting. My response to him was, my “Ego” is pissed at you.
Finally I had isolated my “Ego’s” needs and emotion in a real encounter. I could see “I” disagreed with my “Ego”. I had a choice for the first time.
Just because my “Ego” was pissed meant nothing unless I agreed.
Our “Ego” covets total control. This leads to suffering and loss.
Is your dummy controlling your life?
The “Ego” is dormant during meditation, also the time when our happy emotions, contained in the left prefrontal cortex light up.
3. From Three things you need to know about your inner Critic by smswaby:
Your Critic isn’t your friend… at least, not yet
Your inner Critic loves to talk to you about how much you suck. You should have said this, you shouldn’t have said that, you deserve this, you don’t deserve that. And since the Critic has been with you for most of your life, she or he (in my case, it’s a he) knows exactly which buttons to push. After all, he helped install them.
For simplicity, the gender of your Critic will alternate with each paragraph.
First, you’ll notice that she never shuts up.
Your critic is happy to lecture you about anything: your career, your body, your family, your love life. She will lecture you about how badly you are meditating, or listening to your kids. How other people don’t like you and how you suck. Your Critic has no problem throwing other people under the bus, judging how others look, dress, talk, and how much they don’t measure up. But then she will turn the tables and stab you in the back. Because judging others will always lead back to judging yourself.
