Letting go of negative thoughts

[starflygirl]

If you let go a little
You will have a little peace.
If you let go a lot
You will have a lot of peace.
If you let go completely
You will have complete peace.

—The Venerable Ajahn Chah, 20th century Buddhist monk

I just learned something pretty interesting! We all probably knew this already but hearing it put in this language was really illuminating for me and helped to really drive it home. I’m told this is from The Sedona Method and the idea is this:

We are not our thoughts and we are not our feelings … they are not attached to us.

We say, “I am sad” … “I am happy” … rather than the truer, “I feel sad” … “I feel happy.” This is something I never even thought about. Yet this tiny shift in language is a powerful one.

Because …

If thoughts and feelings ARE us, if they are ATTACHED to us, then they’re troublesome little devils. They’re stuck.

And sometimes, we need to let go.

When I separate myself with a little word like “feel” … that’s a good shift for me. I like it. Thoughts/feelings can come and go and I’m still here in full, radiant Col-ness.

This is good.

I would like to change my language to the latter, “I feel (whatever)” whenever possible … which I suppose is always ... it’s always possible, right? ;)

Anyway, here’s where I got this from … it’s a book called “Happy For No Reason” by Marci Shimoff.



Marci says:

In Borneo, the natives have an ingenious technique for capturing the wild monkeys that raid their crops and stores of food. They take an empty coconut shell and make a small hole in it, just large enough for a monkey’s hand. They put some rice into the coconut for bait and tie the coconut down to the ground. The thieving monkey, smelling the food, comes to investigate. He sticks his hand inside the coconut to grab the rice, but when he tries to pull his hand out, because it’s clasped in a fist around the rice, it won’t fit through the hole anymore. To escape, the monkey must let go of the rice. Because they won’t let go, the monkeys of Borneo remain trapped!

A lot of us are like those monkeys: trapped by our negative thoughts because we just won’t let go of them. And the more we resist them, the more they stick around. It doesn’t help to try pushing them away—they’ll just keep coming back.

Another way to address our troubling thoughts is to go beyond our minds and connect with the feelings associated with the negative thoughts. It’s the feeling that keeps the thought glued to the mind. When we welcome the feeling, accept it and then let it go, the thought will quite miraculously dissolve. An effective way to do this is through a simple, yet powerful, technique called the Sedona Method.

The Sedona Method is based on two main premises:

Thoughts and feelings aren’t facts and they’re not you.

You can let them go.

At your core you already have the happiness you are seeking and all you need to do is uncover this natural happiness by letting go of the unhappiness or limitation that appears to be covering or obstructing it.

Read more about it here: The Sedona Method: Your Key to Lasting Happiness, Success, Peace and Emotional Well-Being

[shadd]

Feb. 22, 2008 at 1:57 PM Colleen-Wow thanks for sharing that!  That makes a lot of sense to me. I wish the letting go part was easier though..I am glad to hear you have your "coll-ness" back!  You are a beautiful person, I was so sorry to hear you were so upset-take care! XOXOX

Charleen

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[xtina34]

Feb. 22, 2008 at 10:20 PM I sooooooo need stuff like this right now.  Been trying to be real positive lately!  Thanks so much for sharing!

[bast]

Feb. 24, 2008 at 1:38 PM you are so loveable. i needed this. love you. i just do! ♥♥♥