Question: What one thing will improve your life, no matter your situation?
Answer: Awareness.
Let me explain... Oh, but, before I do, I want you to promise you will keep re-reading this post until you understand the truth about who you really are. Why? Because when you do get it you will reach the pinnacle of what it means to live as an empowered human. Your life will never be the same again and you will feel amazing.
Did you promise? Okay, good. First let me jump over to the wonderful Eckhart Tolle, to explain what he means by "Awareness".
The keyword that Eckhart uses is "Tool". That word helps you start to realise you are not your thoughts. Thoughts are a tool you can use to get the most out of your brain which in turn will put you into different life positions to then view and experience. Also think of it this way, if you were to build a brain in a factory, to keep it running optimally you would need to service it with tools, right? Just like a car engine. Although it wasn't built in a factory, your brain exists to perform a job. The job is to enable you to interact in the physical world. Are you with me on this? Carrying on with my analogy, what happens to a car engine (the brain) if it is not constantly and appropriately tweaked with tools (thoughts). Sooner or later malfunctions happen and the engine will misfire, stall or blow up. By using your thoughts (tools) appropriately, you are ensuring you are getting the most out of your brain at all times.
Why is it important to become aware that you are not your thoughts and they are just a tool for you to use? By becoming aware of this fact, you immediately (yes immediately) start to tap into the fact that you are part of the body of Everything. Don't worry, I am not trying to get all religious on you, I am simply trying to get you to understand a fact of who "You" really are. The real you is infinite. The real you is indestructible. The real you is always loved. I can keep going on and on, hopefully you can understand how amazing the real you is.
Once you understand that "You" are more than just the sum of your biological parts, specifically, you are more than just your thoughts, you embed a constant awareness (like a firewall) that will raise the alarm when negative thoughts present themselves. By remaining aware you immediately take power away from their effect, like putting out a spark before it can become a flame.
The majority of people will not accept this fact, but I know if you are reading this you are going to be one of the few who get it. One of the reasons they will not accept the fact they are not their thoughts is down to a by-product of the brain. The ego. The ego hates to be told what to do. The ego needs to be in control at all times. The ego will use every thought tool in the box to maintain its grip on your life, literally to the point it can lead people to kill themselves. And actually, suicide prevention is one of the reasons I am so passionate about this. I do not want to hear of one more person committing suicide. So many people have left this world early because they let their egoic thought gremlin take over their mental state to the point they could not see past the thoughts that swirled around their mind. Thoughts like:
- I am not good enough
- I am ugly
- I will never get rid of this addiction
- Nobody loves me
- This problem cannot be solved
- And the list goes on....
- I am not good enough
- I am ugly
- I will never get rid of this addiction
- Nobody loves me
- This problem cannot be solved
- And the list goes on....
The biggest trick the egoic thought gremlin will use to stop you from believing this fact is it will use other biological functions to add weight to it's lies in your head. For example, when I get agoraphobic the gremlin tries to make me feel or be sick. Most of my life it has conned me into making decisions not to do something:
- Don't go to the dentist it will be catastrophic, you will embarrass yourself
- Don't go on that holiday you won't be able to handle the nerves of the long flight
- Don't go out with that person they can never make you happy
- and so on...
I bet you are starting to recognise this trick aren't you? What has the gremlin stopped you from achieving?
It will use emotions and feelings all day long to convince you that you must listen to your thoughts.
- Don't go to the dentist it will be catastrophic, you will embarrass yourself
- Don't go on that holiday you won't be able to handle the nerves of the long flight
- Don't go out with that person they can never make you happy
- and so on...
I bet you are starting to recognise this trick aren't you? What has the gremlin stopped you from achieving?
It will use emotions and feelings all day long to convince you that you must listen to your thoughts.
The FANTASTIC news is, you can have the EUREKA MOMENT immediately just by accepting you are not your thoughts and you must use them only as tools to get the best out of how you perceive life. Yes, you can always consciously select which thoughts you choose from. Hopefully you realise that you need to always "choose" to get rid of the negative ones as soon as they arise and replace them with positive ones.

In other posts I will explain more about the many mental tips (like positive spinning) you can perform to take even more control of what your mind filters into your being. For now I hope you have been awakened to something that will improve your life forever.
The key thing I wanted you to get out of this post is, the real you "is in control" at all times. The real you "can choose" which thoughts to latch onto. The real you "can find enlightenment" in remaining aware.
As usual, you have been awesome! Take care today.
PS: If you still don't get it, remember your promise! Please keep re-reading this post until you do get it.
Author: Christian Jacques Bennett*
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Search Terms: Mindset, Psychology, Psychiatry, Mind, Mental, Health, Anxiety, Phobia, Depression, Negative, Positive, Positivity, Eckhart Tolle, The Way, Tao, Dao, Taoism, Daoism, Everything.
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I love this. Followed Eckhart for years and was aware .. see what I did there .. aware of being aware through him. But I loved the way you used the analogy of the engine. It really helps me understand that I'm in control of which thoughts affect me. Nice article.
ReplyDeleteCouldn't agree more. This has blown my mind!
DeleteMan, praise god, I understand. It is mind altering to think of thoughts like tools. I would love to know your thoughts on what ID is, how does our perception of who we are based on parents and life experience sit into the body of everything?
ReplyDeleteHi Donald, GREAT question! The short answer (which is still massively long) is that your perception of your "ID" is still part of "Everything", no matter what you choose to think. This means that whether your name is Tom - or Anna - or whatever else - and whether you had rich parents - no parents - or whatever else, it does not "ultimately" take you away from the "fact" that "you" are still part of the body of "Everything". An example would be: Let's say you (Donald) perceive, based on your experience up until now, that you are from the USA, born in Texas, from parents who loved you, and you are kind and you like chocolate, let's say you genuinely believe that is the "Who" you "Identify" with. However, let's also say that tomorrow you are in a car crash and part of your brain is damaged so when you wake up you do not remember any of your history. Let's say you recover and leave the hospital, but when you are told you are Donald, you say you prefer to be called John, you also find that you prefer cheese to chocolate and so on..... The question here is "WHO ARE YOU" after the accident ... who do you identify with ... Donald? Or John? Who is the real you? Essentially, this example demonstrates that the ID we all have of ourselves is only a mirage created by experience and thoughts. In time our thoughts can make us believe we are anything we want. What time will never change is that your real "ID" was, is and always will be, that "You" are a part of the body of Everything. Even when your physical body has passed on, you still have existed and that cannot be wiped out. In the grand scheme of Everything you are still very much part of it. I hope this has made sense? It is a MINDBLOWING subject and many people can get upset being told this truth because they believe it in some way dilutes the history and love they have of their family and roots. However, to be clear, this explanation of you being part of the body of Everything has nothing to do with what you choose to tell yourself in this human life. If you want to be Donald and want to love chocolate etc, if that makes your mind happy and doesn't harm others, then fantastic, keep that as your chosen ID and be proud of it in your family tree. The beauty of being born as a human is that each person has the ability to create their own experience. But no matter what is experienced, you cannot take away from the fact you are part of the body of Everything. The main point here is that once you accept this truth, nothing can ever harm you in an ultimate sense (NB: this is written in the Tao Te Ching). I will leave this here, I hope this makes some sense, it can be quite a shock for many who have been brought up to "think" a certain way. PS. I am hitting reply and have not re read through, so hope there are no typos or other things I would want to edit. Hopefully you do get my point about how ID fits into the body of Everything? Take care today....
DeleteHey Christian, that's amazing, I never expected a reply let alone a good one. That totally makes sense to me. It's something I've often thought about, liked if you had a stroke and didn't remember who you were. Thanks so much
DeleteJaw dropping moment........
ReplyDeleteGreat concept
ReplyDelete