Imagine this:

You’re taking a casual stroll through a peaceful and secluded forest one day when, out of the corner of your eye, you spot a rustle in the grass up ahead. 

The rustle starts to move.  

As the grass clears, you see a snake peeking out.  It’s skin is muddy brown and covered in shimmering scales. 

The snake’s tongue flicks rapidly from side to side.  It’s eyes stare straight at you.

The snake lets out a short hiss… 

And it begins to crawl in your direction. 

How are you feeling right now?

If you’re anything like me, your heart is beating faster and a jangling, nervous tension is dancing across your chest.  

But you might not react this way.  Not everyone will.

In fact, some people would react nothing like this. 

A child might feel wonder and amazement...

A zoologist might feel a sense of curiosity...

A snake charmer might feel excited...

And an animal lover might feel a deep satisfaction. 

Goes to show:  our feelings are not caused by the snake.

Sure, they might be prompted by the snake.  We wouldn’t be feeling the way we are if the snake wasn’t there.

But it can’t be the snake which causes specific feelings (if it was, everyone would feel the same way).

Instead, it's our thoughts about the snake which causes our feelings.

And guess what?

The same is true for any event in the outside world.  

An event can never cause our feeling or our experience.  Only our thoughts about the event can (as crazy as that might sound).

Thoughts which are based on our cultural influences and religious beliefs, how we were brought up, when & where we were brought up in, where we went to school, the books we've read, the YouTube videos we've watched, the friends we've hung out with and the jobs we've had.

And so on.

Not to mention the tiniest, most innocuous experiences that we might not even remember.  Like that time we received an unexpected compliment, got criticised or eavesdropped on a stranger's conversation. 

All of these go into the melting point from where our thinking comes.  And if any of our previous experiences were different, the melting point would be different.  So our thoughts would be different too.

And to my mind, there's something amazingly cool about this.

Because my thoughts are an aggregation of my previous experiences, I know I could just as easily be having a different thought in any moment.

In other words:  there's nothing particularly meaningful about my own, particular thoughts.

So I can be playful with my thoughts.  I can treat them with a light-hearted suspicion if I want to.

Not suspicion in the sense of “What does this thought mean?” or “Why am I having this thought?”.  Doing these is just a recipe for overthinking.

But suspicion in the sense that “It’s just my thinking.  And I know my thinking doesn't count for a whole lot".

And boy has this been a relief when I notice my thoughts are taking me to places I'd rather not go.

Because if I don't want to, I know I don't need to pay attention to my thoughts.

Much less believe them or act on them.

That’s all for today.

 - Tom