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Understanding the subconscious mind
It is your subconscious mind that is responsible for
your beliefs. All that you perceive is a result of what
you accept as true in your subconscious mind.
The conscious mind thinks, the subconscious mind absorbs. Your conscious
mind is your garden and your subconscious mind is like deep, fertile soil. Seeds
of both success and failure can be planted in this soil without any discernment.
Your conscious mind plays the role of the gardener, choosing which seeds are
sown in your soil.
But most of us allow both good and bad seeds to fall within this soil. This means
that limiting ideas are among those constantly taking root in our subconscious,
since they’re repeatedly sown there. As the subconscious doesn’t evaluate these
ideas, they gradually reshape our beliefs. This means fearful, jealous and power-
hungry individuals will constantly feed bad seeds into your mind that will limit
your potential in life. You might be told to ‘Wake up’ and ‘Be realistic’.
Deeply habitual thinking that stems from undesirable subconscious impressions
will lead you away from your true goals in life, but the truth is, once you mute
the noise of the world, you’ll realize there’s nothing you can’t do.
Going beyond thoughts
If you can’t change a situation, change your
perception of it. That’s where your personal
power is. Either be controlled – or be in control.
Growing up, I lived in a somewhat racist neighbourhood. Put it this way: if I
wanted to play outside, as kids did back then, I’d spend the first half-hour
fighting at least two or three kids. Eventually, I’d be drawn to fight their older
brothers, too.
When they told me to go back to my own country, I was offended. This was my
country and it was my right to be able to play outside. I remember thinking that
no one should have the right to belittle me because of the colour of my skin. This
thought built up so much rage inside me that, although I didn’t like fighting, I
felt – ironically – that fighting was the only way I could defend my freedom and
create peace. Every time someone was racist towards me, my automatic response
was violence. My violence was born from anger, which is a defence against pain.
Yet I wasn’t a violent person; I’d often physically hurt kids and then right away
I’d feel guilty and ask them if they were okay.
But the notion of violence creating peace is a misconception we commonly
observe on the news today. When I won a fight, it only encouraged more people
to get involved. Soon enough, I stopped playing outside because the drama
wasn’t worth it.
Our brains are clever. They want to make life easy for us and to do as little
thinking as possible. (This might sound a little strange, especially if you’re a
chronic overthinker.) So the brain is optimized to make subconscious decisions
based on previous emotions attached to experiences. This autopilot behaviour
created by repetition allows us to move through our day without having to
relearn processes, such as driving, and without having to think through all the
minutia of daily life.
However, since our subconscious mind has no awareness, it can unwittingly hold
us captive to unhealthy behaviour. The fact that I felt bad every time I reacted
violently to the abuse I was subjected to made me realize that
I
wasn’t my
reactions; I was conditioned to react like that by my past experiences, and I
didn’t question my reaction because I lacked awareness.
You are not your thoughts. You are
the witness of each thought.
By this principle, I never actually thought, ‘I am angry’; I was simply
aware
of
this thought and emotion. By cultivating this awareness, we can learn to make
better decisions as to how to act.
How we perceive an event determines how we experience it. Events are neutral,
but we give them labels. When a
bad
event happens, take a pause – and then
observe your thoughts. This is making the unconscious mind conscious;
replacing thought with awareness. Only once you notice your thoughts can you
make a choice as to how you respond. Meditation is a powerful tool for honing
this skill.
Look at any disempowering thought as not really
you
and let it pass by. Or select
a more empowering thought. For example, if you’ve just lost your job, you could
focus on the thought that says you’re going to be unemployed and broke, which
will make you feel hopeless and lower your vibration. Or you could focus on the
opportunity to find a new job that pays more. The second thought will make you
feel better and raise your vibration.
This is the practice of living consciously: unlearning and reconditioning the
mind so you can have more freedom to be who you really are. It’s not a quick
process, but with dedication it will allow you to shift from a cycle of negative
thinking to a new mode of positive thinking.
In short: rather than trying to control external events, concentrate on controlling
how your mind responds to them. This gives you back your personal power and
is the key to a happy life.
Your goal isn’t to get rid of negative thoughts;
it’s to change your response to them.
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