Even if you haven't read the book, I highly recommend watching the webcasts of Oprah's talks with Eckhart Tolle, author of A New Earth. Oprah and Tolle discussed the first chapter of the book this past Monday and they will be talking about Chapter two today.
Tolle writes a lot about that "voice" in our heads, also know as our ego. For years, I believed that voice, which caused unnecessary guilt and sadness (I still get tricked by it sometimes). I'm not talking about a "voice" that tells me that aliens have landed on earth. This "voice" is one that could be mistaken as my own. It is the voice that says things like: "You're never going to get that job, you're fat, you're not worthy of this happiness, you should feel guilt about this or that", and so on. Tolle gives simple insight into how to separate from the ego. He suggests that we observe these voices, step away from their harsh judgments, and bring our focus to the present. Sounds easy, right? Well, not for me at least.
As I awoke this morning the first thoughts that came to me were: "Get out of bed! Your wasting your time! You're never going to get everything you need to get done today!" Rather than enjoying those last few moments in bed, my heart was racing. Luckily, I recognized these "voices" and was able to observe them and push them aside, savoring a few more cozy moments. I am going to start writing these thoughts down and see if I can find some patterns. Writing them down also helps you to separate your true self from the ego (voices).
Anyone else recognize a similar voice in their head? How do you cope with this negative thinking?
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2 comments:
This is something I talk about a lot in my work, except with different terminology. I think we all struggle with negative messages in our inner monologue. I suggest writing some of those messages down (it can be shocking to see some of those things spelled out on paper), and then putting a big X over it and replacing it was a positive alternative. It helps us get aware of the messages we send ourselves and use "thought-stopping" to quit the negative messages and start using "positive self-talk." : )
Thanks for sharing this Linds!
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