Going In One Ear and Out the Other

By Wanda Lawson

Balance seems to be a sort of theme these days as I write my articles. This makes sense to me because balance is a huge part of healing.

Healing concerns a threefold process involving our minds, bodies, and spirits.

As we heal our minds and bodies, our spirits become free to be in touch with our Higher Power, therefore allowing us to be our true selves with our true natures.

We essentially become “unbound” by the effects of our past and the concern of our future. Our minds are pretty much conditioned. In any given moment, a thought has been programmed to appear as if a lightning bolt had struck us on top of our head. It does not matter if it is labeled good or bad. Our mind can even come up with something labeled bad in even the best of the moments of our lives.

Worries are just words formed together, brought forth in our minds, and have not yet manifested in the physical. Therefore, why do we worry, mostly due to fear of the unknown.

Projecting your thoughts into the future and making decisions based upon worries is not conducive to balance in our lives. Just as making decisions based upon past events, assuming their reoccurrence, will not bring your life into balance. The mind sees its job as a rejecter, rejecting what is presently going on to bring about a better future. The logic in this is that if we are now happy, we will not allow anything to disturb this. It analyzes situations so it can fix or improve things in order to keep the “happy” feeling alive.

In reality, there is always something going on that is bad, so the mind stays busy trying to ascertain situations in any given moment. We cannot really “stop our minds” and function properly. However, what we can choose to do is take some time, a couple of breathes, and stop the chattering of our thoughts for a moment.

In order to accomplish this we must remember not to “fight” our thoughts, but rather “allow” the thoughts to float by. I call this “going in one ear and out the other”.

Ask yourself…

What is the first thing you think upon awakening in the mornings? Are you thankful for even waking up? Are you thinking you are late for an appointment or for work? Are you thinking about your day’s schedule and how on earth you are going to meet the days, weeks, months, year’s deadlines?

Well, if these are your first thoughts of the day, I have news for you. At the moment of awakening, these things have not yet happened. There is good intention for them to take place, but in reality, have not. So many things can change the course of a day, an hour, or a moment.

Changes are a given.

With so many different personalities in our world, you can bet people will change in one way or the other. Changes are also a law of nature. Needing, on the other hand, is more connected to worrying.

Needs…are part of our lives. Do you have realistic needs?

I was once told by a very wise person that if my needs were not being met, change them. What a concept!

Worrying about needs is just as imbalanced as worrying about future events. We do not know exactly how an event will play out in the scheme of our plans, so why worry.

We have been “conditioned” to think certain thoughts and think in a certain fashion depending upon circumstances.

What is so bad about following a “gut feeling”? Are we so far gone with our conditioned mind that we have lost control of ourselves?

What is wrong with “just being” instead of trying to fix the world or change other people? Why can’t we just enjoy a moment…smell a rose or cup of coffee?

For real…I am being serious here. What is more important than taking care of yourself, respecting yourself, loving yourself, honoring the person you are? Of course, if you do not like what you see in the mirror, then simply change.

How to accomplish this

By being present in the moment and opening up your mind to endless possibilities. Am I saying everyone could become a millionaire? No, money, and most people who have it will tell you this, will not buy happiness or contentment.

What I am saying is when a person opens up their minds to endless possibilities in the present moment, magic happens. A silence enters, sometimes ever so slightly, and the heart begins to expand and speak. The heart can only be heard in this silence.

Listen…

In time, you will begin to notice the heart speaking as you are driving down the highway, watching TV, or listening to music. This silence is an inner silence…a mind silence. By allowing thoughts to come and go without attachment, they just float by. This is part of “just being”. If you fight them, they will pester you until you are ready to scream. Becoming a monk or following rigid religious dogma or rules is not required in order to live a balanced life. If more than half of your time is spent on anything, this is unbalanced…and the kids today wonder why they are required to learn math. Well, I wasn’t interested in math back in my school days, but how could I have known just how much physics was involved in life? Maybe that is why it is called “physical”.

In the present moment, there are no problems, only unreal stories made up by our minds telling us to worry about “what if’s”. Ask yourself questions about the present moment. You may find that the answers will surprise you.

Asking questions in the present moment reduces the feeling of being overwhelmed.

I can remember a time when I was so overwhelmed with a situation; I stopped dead in my tracks as I was walking across the room and wept. I did not know what to do from one moment to the next, I did not even know what to think or say, and so I just cried and cried. This is one of those times, when overwhelmed, that all the talk about being in the moment, just being, meditation, and all the things we study about a life of peace, love, and joy…goes right out the window. This is one of those times when we cry out to our Higher Power, our God, and our Source. This is when we pray. This is when we have done all we can do and can do no more.

I am not making light of any given spiritual path one has chosen to walk in their life. What I am saying is our minds are so conditioned; sometimes it takes reality to break through to our hearts.

Living in the land of “holier than thou”, “I know it all”, “I am better than others”, “that will never happen to me”, or any other ego rooted thought will set you on several highways to becoming enlightened in a way that is not always pleasant. Learning to be in the moment can become a healthy habit though in order to overcome the unhealthy habits our minds have become conditioned with. No matter what age you are, this can be done.

These ego thoughts are not conducive to being in balance either. The ego can also turn the tables on you with thoughts on the other side of the coin. The thought of “holier than thou” is not a respecter of persons. It does not matter what religion you are or even if you claim no religion and have decided there is no power higher than self. The laws of nature and all other universal laws have functioned since the beginning of time and will continue to whether we believe in anything or not. In addition, yes, karma is one of them.

Balance is a daily, if not moment-by-moment, task. By changing our perspective, we can accomplish bringing balance into our lives. Over half of my life was spent unbalanced; I desire to take each day to accomplish the rest of my life being balanced. Bringing your life into balance takes truth. Be honest with yourself. Find your truth. This is not necessarily a spiritual quest, but a personal one. Hiding behind pains of the past is the same as living a lie. Here again, your thoughts are not being honest with you because your ego is riding high in the saddle. You…are not your thoughts.

Being honest with yourself will open doors you have never imagined. Yes, sometimes the truth does hurt, but the pain of the truth is much less and heals much quicker than the pain of lies.

Thinking with tunnel vision is part of a conditioned mind.

Do you think you are invincible?

Do you not realize that worrying is a waste of precious time?

Do you know for a fact that you will even be breathing by the end of the day or even the next moment or hour?

This is not a panic type attitude, it is one of reality. I am sure that everyone agrees that death is just as much a part of life as living.

Imagine this….choose to be honest with yourself, open up your mind to endless possibilities, tap into your true self/true nature…or allow your conditioned mind to keep you miserable, stressed out, unhealthy…better known as “bound” and “unbalanced”.