Don't Believe Everything You Think: Why Your Thinking Is The Beginning & End Of Suffering (Beyond Suffering Book 1)

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One is that we like being right. It’s uncomfortable to discover that one of your thoughts is, in fact, wrong. So rather than open-mindedly examining the validity of our thoughts, we usually prefer to just assume we’re right and move on. But if our habitual thoughts routinely lead to unhappy outcomes, then we need to do the uncomfortable work of examining those thoughts. You might feel insistent that this thought is true! If it really does feels true at first glance, inquire again. Can you really know that it’s true? Be honest with yourself. The irony of this situation is that everyone talks to themselves all day long. You just don’t verbalize this dialogue, so it isn’t heard by others. It would probably be more accurate to say that some Republicans don’t care about poor people (I’m looking at you Wilbur Ross), some Republicans believe that the free market is the best way to help the poor, and some Republicans are themselves poor. Is it Helpful?

This principle gives you the power to take control of how you respond to your thoughts as you go through life. It helps you let go of thoughts that bring you down, so you can cultivate greater peace and joy. Start by noting thoughts and feelings with gentle curiosity as they arise. And when you find yourself face-to-face with a more intense thought or interpersonal conflict, use The Work to see more clearly. But when you hold on to your thoughts as if they are the utmost truth, unpleasant feelings are sure to follow. When you stop believing everything you think, you give yourself the opportunity to be more proactive, and live the life you want to live. When examining one of your thoughts, the first consideration is whether or not the thought is valid. Here are some questions you can ask yourself to help with this:

But thoughts are also important, and we do have some control over them. So it’s time to start exploring the topic of developing better thoughts.

Note the thought with gentle curiosity, giving it a one-word descriptor. (Along the lines of, “Ah, I see: Fear.”) The Work” of Byron Katie is a process of inquiry that helps you identify and question the thoughts that cause you the most suffering.

Now, if you find that your thoughts aren’t valid or aren’t helpful, you’ll want to replace them with better thoughts. Here are some questions you can use to help with that: With Mental Noting, you gently “note” thoughts or sensations as they arise in your mind by giving them a simple 1-word descriptor. (e.g. warm, tense, anger, etc.) The second reason why not believing everything you think is difficult is that we’re often unaware of our thoughts. Most of our thoughts arise automatically, and we instantly believe and embody them. We rarely recognize them as thoughts at all. Becoming more aware of your thoughts requires mindfulness, journaling, or the help of a cognitive therapist.