The Endless Chatter of Yesterday and Tomorrow…

I just finished reading Jen Sincero’s book, “You are a Badass…” and yes that is the title. One of the best books I have read in a long time! I could go on and on about what I loved, but we aint got that kind of time! Suffice it to say, she speaks of our conscious mind (you know, the one that never shuts up) and our subconscious mind (called your heart in the Bible). So this lil’ diddy is all about learning to silence that endless chatter in your conscious mind so you can finally get some long sought after peace…

I don’t think it is an exaggeration to say most people walk around in a fog of their own inner dialogue. They sit down to speak with you and they’re half in and half out, if you know what I mean. They watch their favorite TV show and their cell phone offering Facebook, Twitter, Vines, Snapchat, Instagram and LinkedIn. At work, they stare at computer screens lost in this thought and that one. It’s no wonder peace is a lost commodity. People’s minds are all over the place like that last episode of the Goodwife!

The strangest part of the whole deal is that most thought time is dedicated to dredging up the past or forecasting the future, in realms we cannot directly affect at this time. Trying to make sense of the things we did and said in the past is absurd because we aren’t even in the same place we were when we said and we did. The future is similar. Chances are we aren’t stressing over a present reality, but instead some future reality that may or usually will not come. But there we sit entrenched in thought, babbling and chattering away with thoughts and ideas that aren’t relevant to the moment we live in. If we are honest, we aren’t rehearsing the past to get better, we’re reliving it to find some way to make us okay. We don’t picture the future to properly plan for it, we envision suffering and pain and loss in this capacity or another. The grand what if… Ugh.

The real beauty and simplicity of life is always, always, always found in the moment called now! God, the eternal One, is an ever-present now! For Him there is no time. He is presently in your past, your right now and in your future. Time is something us human folk think in terms of because God made us that way. But for Him, nada… So with that being said, the Eternal One designed life so that we would function best living in the present moment. And amazingly, when we stop that endless rama-lama we find a quietness we weren’t expecting.

So how do you squelch that mind-boggling noise in your head? Simply by bringing your mind back to the moment you are in. If you are driving home from work, get out of your head and look around you. Is it sunny outside? Are there cars around you? What is on the side of the road you never saw before? When you get home from the drive, who is at home? Your spouse, your significant other? What would happen if you actually engaged them with something significant instead of racing to get on Facebook? What if you really stayed in the present moment and let all that frivolity going on in your head, go? What if, huh? You see the mystery of a peaceful mind is solved when you move your mind to the moment that is, rather than the moment that was or will be. The reason we rejoice over a Saturday or a vacation is because for some reason we allow ourselves to live right now in those circumstances. Well my friends, we can always live in the ‘right now’ if we really want to.

As Jen beautifully pointed out, our life doesn’t spring forth from our conscious mind. It comes out of our subconscious mind. And we will never get to what is really going on in our hearts while flailing around, lost in conscious thought focused on yesterday and tomorrow. But, when you slow down a little and stop churning your butter, you begin to get in touch with how you really feel. You start to see the things you have been missing and become oh so grateful. Being all pissy and whiny and ungrateful is a symptom of a conscious mind on overdrive! (Took a whole lotta striving, just to get up that hill! Shameless Jeffersons reference)! Life isn’t fraught with striving and straining to get what you want and need. Instead, the ideal life is found in allowing God to take care of you like He said He would and just living for now. But what if I lose my job and blah blah blah? Most likely you would find another one and not die! You see? It’s silly…and a colossal waste of time!

Your real life comes forth out of that heart of yours and until you begin to change your heart, you’ll find yourself fighting with your conscious mind against circumstances proceeding from your own heart! Silence the chatter and listen. Pay attention to what is all around you. Be open to learning and open (re-open) that heart of yours. God desires your inner happiness more than you do and He can show you how to find it if you are willing to see it. Be willing!

Peace, peace, wonderful peace coming down from the Father above…

Just some good thoughts…