As we meander along the path toward a calmer and sweeter experience of life we have a ringside seat at the circus of our thinking. Our experience can run the gamut from the delight and amusement of a juggling clown to the heart-stopping terror of a high wire act. Sometimes these extremes can occur within a matter of seconds, often without any change in our world, save for our thinking.
How powerful is this thought/feeling connection that can move us from tears to laughter so instantly? We seem to be at the whim of each thought, or each act, as it’s under the spotlight.
Things aren’t, however, what they seem. We’re neither a captive audience nor an unwilling participant in this mental big top. We’re the circus master, the creator of every moment. And, as much as it may seem otherwise, we truly write the script, not of the events but rather of our experience of the events. As much as we might resist the idea that we have a choice and can change our perception, truth is that we can. We have free will.
It’s easy to point to worst case scenarios and “what if’s.” Of course life is a series of ups and downs, of wins and losses. It’s not that we’re likely to walk through this journey without some adversity. What we do know, however, is that we have an innate resiliency and a profound capacity to choose well-being and wisdom regardless of past or current circumstances.
When we feel gripped by worry or anxiety, by self-doubt and insecurity it’s the perfect opportunity to see how seriously we’re taking our thinking. We’re believing the script. We’re seeing the world through the lens of a thought. It’s then that we can see the myriad options available to us. We can recognize the habits that we’ve innocently developed and we can let them go.
It’s a lifelong discovery that continues to surprise and delight as we realize that we can free ourselves from thinking that doesn’t serve us. We can recognize the feeling that tells us, loud and clear, where we’re going with an unwanted thought. We can continue to peel away the layers that keep us from our true nature, one of compassion and love.
We can feel deep gratitude for the gift of our innate health, that capacity to live in a good feeling more of the time. And we can decide where our thinking will take us.
As Sydney Banks reminds us in The Missing Link, “We are all just a thought away from a good feeling.”