Many mental health professionals recommend that their clients practice meditation as a means of learning to quiet the mind and live in the present ‘now’ moment. Usually this is therapy for people who suffer from depression caused by their thinking about their past. Or it’s therapy for people who suffer from anxiety caused by their thinking about their future. This is such a common human experience that Lao Tzu (500 bce) recommended that one would find peace of mind by living in the present moment – because by focusing one’s awareness on the present moment prevents one from focusing one’s awareness on negative thoughts about their past or future that are causing their emotional suffering. Suffering from negative thoughts is a thought pattern that affects individuals worldwide, because our brain tends to focus on negative thoughts to protect us from harm. (See Your Brain Is Wired For Negavity)
Instead of learning to “live in the present ‘now’ moment’’, consider ’observing your thoughts’ as an alternative. When you practice being ‘the observer of your thoughts’, you are going one step better by being aware of your negative thoughts and then managing them for your own best self interest. Recognize that you are not your thoughts. You are the observer, the one controlling the focus of your awareness, and you can control which thoughts you focus on. Oprah demonstrated this when she said “think of a full-moon, an oak tree by the bank of a river, a red triangle”. (see Observe Your Negative Thoughts) That mental exercise gives you the personal experience of ‘managing your thoughts’. Practice being the observer of your thoughts by having your mobile phone beep a few times each day to remind you, and then practice training your thoughts to be more positive. You will quickly and easily train a positive mindset within a few weeks. (See the video below)
The primary benefit of training your thoughts to be more positive is . . . . you will have serenity and peace of mind. Once you’ve trained your mind to think more positive thoughts, you won’t abuse yourself emotionally by mulling over negative things that happened in the past or that you fear might happen in the future. You will see the positive in every situation, including thinking about the past and future, and you will feel good about your life. Your self-esteem will be very high because you will be practicing positive self-talk and you will know how to handle difficult, negative situations in a more positive, compassionate way. In other words, you can live your life ‘your-way’ and enjoy it because your thoughts about the past or future will be more positive. You can enjoy ‘living in the present moment’ when your thoughts are there, and you can enjoy ‘living in the past/future’ when your thoughts are there. Just understand that all you have is this ‘now’ moment, all we can ever have is the present moment; and any thoughts about the past or future are only thought journeys. Recognize that by training your thoughts to be more positive, you will enjoy positive thought journeys; therefore, you owe it to yourself to train your thoughts to be more positive so you can enjoy a happy and contented life in the ‘now moment and while on any ‘thought journeys’.
My Enlightenment Experience: I recognized that, over the course of my life, that I had unconsciously trained my thoughts to be negative. And by learning to train my thoughts to be more positive, I was able to find peace and happiness in my life. I feel blessed and you can too.