Trying to Fix Things with Thoughts PDF Print E-mail
Written by Gina Lake   
Tuesday, 08 February 2011 10:48
When we aren't feeling so happy, we often try to fix that by trying to figure out what is wrong and what might fix that. This often gives rise to stories about what's wrong—reasons for why you aren't happy—which the egoic mind is happy to supply (that's one of its main jobs). Or to try to fix our unhappiness, we might try to change our thoughts or try to get to a different state by thinking. The mind spins around and around, trying to get to a place of peace and contentment, while all the while, peace and contentment don't lie in doing anything but, rather, in just being.

The egoic mind is deeply invested in doing and not in just being, since just being relegates the egoic mind to the background, where it is no longer in charge. Just being is the one thing you can do to reliably find your way back to happiness, but the mind doesn't value just being—and understandably so, since "just being," by definition, doesn't include the mind. The mind will try to convince you that just being is worthless and will never lead to anything, least of all happiness. The mind's idea of just being is that it is boring, uninteresting, and that's how just being seems to us when we are identified with the egoic mind. Consequently, we think that just being can't possibly be the solution to unhappiness.

Often, only when we are mentally exhausted from trying to fix our state with our mind do we discover that dropping out of the mind is the solution.  Out of exhaustion, we finally give up or surrender our efforts to try to think our way to happiness. Or we may just get busy doing something else, which is another way of dropping out of the mind and its attempts to improve our state. The egoic mind is in the self-improvement business, and it isn't actually good at creating pleasant states of consciousness. The egoic mind is actually the problem, not the solution. It is the creator of negative states, so how can it be helpful in getting out of those states or in creating a positive state? And yet, when we are in the habit of listening to the mind, we are likely to listen to the mind's solutions for getting out of our mind-generated negativity and our sense of having a problem and needing to fix something.

Once we realize that we are trying to use the mind to transcend the unhappiness created by the mind, then we are free to seek another solution. Fortunately, no seeking is needed. Often just the realization that thinking is the problem is the solution. But one more thing may be necessary before the mind grabs your attention again, and you are off and running once again in the direction it is taking you. The one thing you can do besides realize the truth about the egoic mind is to point your attention away from thoughts onto what is real and true in this alive and ever-changing moment. What are you sensing, seeing, hearing, and feeling right now? What are you moved or inspired to do in this moment, if anything? What thoughts are trying to insert themselves into this present moment? Just notice them and return to just sensing, listening, seeing, being, existing, and responding naturally and spontaneously to life as the Being that you are.

This moment is all there is, and it is enough. When you realize that, then happiness, contentment, and peace arise spontaneously. If you practice being present to what is real and true right now, disengaging from the mind and engaging in real life will become natural. Moving out of the mind and into the moment is all we have ever had to do to be happy, and it is also an effective and safe way to live. We don't need the chattering mind to create security and safety because something much wiser is already living this life and doing what needs to be done. Realize who you really are and let that live your life. Happiness is the natural outcome of living as your true nature, as Essence.
 

8 Comments

  1. David makes this comment

    Tuesday, 08 February 2011

    Thanks Gina: another thought-provoking (good sense!) well-written post. Intuitively I trust that being in the world is more peaceful than starting from the point that it is to be faced from action (especially tinged with fear or hurry) or thought (especially analysis). The difficulty, I find, is moving from this realisation to embedding it in daily experience.

  2. David makes this comment

    Tuesday, 08 February 2011

    I also think that sometimes one has to go through something to BE (my emphasis) what one desires, and this should involve some challenge. Let me take an example from my life. I am trying to improve my agility as a soccer player and have a couple of drills that I worked on this morning. The first ten minutes or so of the activity, when my body is warming up and I am conscious of what I judge to be the lack of speed and accuracy in my feet, tend to be mildly uncomfortable; never excruciating, as I am careful not to overdo it & never bought into the approach of 'no pain, no gain', but I am tempted to give up the drill nonetheless. Then, typically, my body becomes more supple & I notice what I regard as improved technique, which encourages further effort.

  3. David makes this comment

    Tuesday, 08 February 2011

    In short, if I want to BE a better soccer player then I believe I have to DO the right things; it's not enough, I feel, to sit back & rely on inner promptings. It's a question of balance: being kind to yourself (not setting excessive standards) & trusting, on the other hand, that skill requires practice.
    Love...

  4. Gina Lake makes this comment

    Tuesday, 08 February 2011

    Hi David, Good to hear from you. In every post, I, by necessity, must leave out so much to make my point. There is nothing wrong with doing, of course, or having goals to be some way and developing oneself by taking certain actions. In this short post, I was just pointing to the ineffectiveness of trying to think our way to happiness, when that kind of thinking is the problem. Drives to do come from the ego and they also come spontaneously out of the moment from Essence. Life is a dance between the two kinds of doing. There is no right way to "do" life. My goal in everything I write is to ease suffering, if there is suffering. We can have a lot of fun, whether we follow the ego's goals or Essence's. But if we aren't having fun or are struggling and suffering, then it is because of something we are thinking. Love...

  5. Christina makes this comment

    Tuesday, 08 February 2011

    Hi Gina,

    Great Blog. It reminded me of a hike I took with my sister Donna several years ago when we discussed present moment awareness & the first time I had a "realization" of what "being present" means. It was a pivital moment for me. I then started practicing "watching my thoughts", and WOW, was that an eye opener. Soon after this practice started, I realized how often I was in my ego and how often I was the one who was creating my own pain & suffering! LOL... It was another Ah ha moment...Anyway, Several years later I am still practicing and I take one moment at a time and I forgive myself more easily when I see myself in "ego". What a wonderful journey and experience this is.....

  6. Gina Lake makes this comment

    Wednesday, 09 February 2011

    Thanks for sharing that, Christina. Seeing through the illusion spun by the mind is amazing. Life really becomes wonderful once we see the Goodness behind life and how it brings us all Home. Love...

  7. GInger makes this comment

    Wednesday, 24 October 2012

    I was feeling anxious after talking to a neighbor who I experience as pushing my buttons often. I've been reading Gina's books & the blog articles, so I came to the archives to find something to help me in my anxious state. This was the article I needed!

    I am not "there" in practice yet...but I "hear" what Gina is saying. For the six years I've know this woman I leave conversations with her, feel unhappy, & "... try to fix that by trying to figure out what is wrong and what might fix that." (!) Can it be possible that I don't NEED to figure out the why's and what if's to achieve some peace of mind? Is it true that not thinking about "what she said and how she said it" is really much more sane and helpful?

    This is very new for me. Gina's message, her teachings, are very counter-cultural. We get a lot of encouragement to "think out" situations...to rationalize, be logical, get "clarity," be prepared and strategize through life. I am excited about trying a new approach!

  8. Gina Lake makes this comment

    Sunday, 28 October 2012

    Good for you for finding just the right blog post. Isn't this Intelligence that we are wonderful! It is even working perfectly within the woman you mentioned, as she is getting and will get what she needs to grow. It isn't your problem to fix, and "why" isn't a very useful question. It is true that you don't need to think about such conversations, but test this out for yourself: Do you feel good and at peace when you think these thoughts? Or do you feel good and at peace when you let them go? Peace and love point the way to right action. Stirring and feeding the egoic mind isn't useful. There is room sometime for mental analysis if it is productive and leaves you at a place of peace, but most thinking is just the ego trying to be right and come out on top. Do what expands you and brings you to love, not contracts you. Let that be your guide, and you will be happy and bring happiness to others.

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