Make peace with the unknown

 

 

 

I put this on my vision board at the beginning of November.

Today I saw it – I mean really saw it – for the first time.

How’s your peace of mind?

I realised that most of us spend a good deal of time in our heads worrying about the unknown.

We seem to have this need to control what’s happening.  We project our minds into the future and rehearse what’s going to happen. And in my experience, the majority of the time, those rehearsals are not very pleasant.   They give rise to feelings of fear, doubt and anxiety.

They rob us of our peace of mind.

The future and futility

Right now, I see the futility of that.  The future doesn’t exist.  I mean I know that we measure our experience using time but right now, in this moment, how you think that experience is going to look is exactly that, it’s a thought, it’s all an illusion.  An illusion that you’re innocently creating.  Tomorrow, next week, next year can only ever exist when they’re here in the present moment.  If you’re not sure about that, try now scratching your nose tomorrow.

So, all that worry is for nothing.  We innocently use what we’ve already experienced, delving into what’s stored in our brains, to create that illusion of the future.

That, to me at least, looks like we’re only taking into account stuff that’s already happened in the past.

Make space for something new

We’re so caught up with all that old stuff that there is no space for new stuff.

I listened to Sydney Banks this morning and he uses a lovely analogy about a full bottle of wine that’s gone bad.  He points out that no matter how much fresh, good wine, you pour into the same bottle, you still have bad wine.

If we’re using old thinking habits, beliefs and patterns, believing that what we’re projecting into the future is real, of course, we’re going to be worried.

The truth is that if we can let go of that thinking, we make room for some fresh ideas and thoughts.

You’ll know that feeling where suddenly it’s as though you’ve come out of the fog and you see things so much more clearly.  It’s a magical moment.  You feel lighter and freer and everything’s changed.

All that’s happened is that you’ve had some fresh new thinking about something.  The situation or experience hasn’t changed, your thinking about it has.

That’s a gift we always have.  And yet we insist on staying in the fog.  Indeed we create our own fog.  And with our heads down, we stumble around in fear, doubt and anxiety,  not realising that above that fog, which is only a cloud, there is clarity.  There is unlimited possibility and a sense of peace and calm.

Always.

Peace will bring you home

If, rather than looking down, peering into the fog of what we know, we could just look in a different direction, upwards to the clear blue sky, who knows what will come up for us?

All I know is that looking upwards creates space for that fresh new thinking.  It feels like the worry and anxiety of overthinking just dissolves away. It brings you into the moment. It brings you home.  Home to the very core of who you truly are.  To that place of wisdom, clarity, creativity, resilience and peace.

And the truth is that your wisdom is always guiding you.

It’s just much easier to hear when your mind is quiet.

Make peace with the unknown and see what that’s like for you.

I’d love for you to share this post.

Jane x