“Observe your thoughts. Take control of your mind. All day.”

The average person has about 48.6 thoughts per minute, or 70,000 per day, according to the Laboratory of Neuro Imaging at The University of Southern California. Now that’s a lot of observing to pull off!

But it’s worth it, isn’t it?  Our thoughts are our treasures and our learning tools. The Course in Miracles says, “The body is the learning device of the mind.” So too, the mind is the learning device of the soul. Usually, our gnarly thoughts (the ones that are not loving and self-affirming) are passing through to teach us this or that about ourselves. Part of the journey is to see them, understand them and in some cases to weed the garden of the deeply rooted thoughts we don’t relish facing … the ones  which seem to get activated by people, places and things for the express purpose of pulling our chain. Then, if we choose, we can see our own limiting concepts and with great resolve, bring them bubbling to the surface for eventual release from the bodymind imprint. Not an easy task sometimes, but what is the alternative… holding onto them forever?

The skill is in watching the gnarly thoughts non-judgmentally and letting them show their teaching. You created them in the first place! And you can uncreate and transform them anytime. You are the boss. When you get good at this, your life will evolve in a whole new way. The premise that our thoughts really do create our reality becomes more and more real as we practice this wisdom.

Of course, thoughts that are loving: Expand … by sending those babies out in all directions! This is called Tonglen in the Buddhist tradition.

Observe your thoughts. Take control of your mind. All day.