One thing that minds like to do (a lot) is find meaning. Everything has to have a meaning, or a reason, to a mind.
Everything!
This makes sense in the outside-in world of an Ego Construct 📦 where—from its perspective—it’s in control of everything, solving problems and managing how you feel.
To a mind, it really looks like circumstances are the cause of our feelings. Therefore it’s utterly logical that it should figure out which of those circumstances are ‘making you’ feel a particular way, so that it can try and do something about it.
Hence: meaning-making. All the time.
(I’ve said, many a time before – thought is not the enemy, it’s genuinely trying to help!)
It came up with a client recently. They’d experienced a low-feeling mood that dissipated, leaving behind a much better-feeling mood.
And their mind was so earnest in trying make something of it. Was it because of this thing? Or maybe that one? I suppose the reason could have been that situation. Hmmm, although maybe it was… etc.
None of this is a problem per se, until we start taking any of it even remotely seriously.
Bricklayer mode activated
It’s like each one of those reasons the mind can come up with is like laying a brick. It’s solid. It’s a thing. It’s stable. And if we take it seriously, it looks true.
True enough to build on.
Any boy, do minds ever like to build on stuff!! It’s like Bob the Builder’s been let loose in there and wants to construct an elaborate set of rules that will ensure we’re more in control of things like this in the future.
- Down goes a brick: Oh yeah, it’s probably that, isn’t it! 🧱
- Down goes another brick: Well, if it was that, then that means… 🧱
- Down goes another brick: And of course, in that case, the thing to do would be to… 🧱
- Down goes another brick… 🧱 and another… 🧱 and another… 🧱
…until we’ve innocently walled ourselves off from life behind a towering construction of thought-‘logic’ that’s all completely made up and has no actual use (other than to wall us off from life, that’s happening Now).
🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱
🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱
🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱
🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱😞🧱🧱 🧱🧱🧱🧱
Much easier to spot the mind laying bricks sooner rather than later, put the trowel down and get on with living.
💟
Giles
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Related
Giles P Croft
Here’s me, getting caught out by the very same thing