Reality Check

Don’t believe everything you think.

“You knock at the door of Reality. You shake your thought wings, loosen your shoulders, and open.” ~Rumi

Reality. Who knew reality could be so subjective? Your thoughts are some combination of your own and those of the society you inhabit, think about that for a moment. Have you ever stopped to question your beliefs? How much fake news do you think is in that noggin or yours - I’m not just talking politics here, I mean every judgement you have over the course of a day. Initially it’s not easy to question your thoughts before engaging your mouth. Examining your own reality can be completely disorienting, it was for me at first. After a year of this practice, it’s more automatic for my first thought to be “what is true here?”. Would you be willing to suspend your beliefs in order to find a more objective reality?

When I started the practice of questioning every thought I had last year, in particular the ones that were emotionally charged, it was like being in a stop motion film in my own head. I noticed my automatic judgements grab my attention, then with intention I would visualized setting the thought aside in order to examine the truth, the belief, the feelings. It wasn’t a fast process, I often felt at a loss for words and a bit dumb. The practice was easy to engage in, but without a doubt it was uncomfortable questioning myself so regularly - you wouldn’t believe how frequently and automatically judgement occurs. But, suspending judgements and beliefs also felt liberating and opened up some interesting channels of thought. It’s interesting that I still have the same philosophy as before this thought experiment, and that I feel less hesitant about engaging in conversations with people who may not share my ideas or philosophy. Most of the time I can do so without judging them. If the person I’m speaking with does the same, well then we’ve got an interesting conversation, possibly even good ole’ debate.

What beliefs are you clinging onto for dear life? How willing are you to question or suspend your judgements in order to check for reality? The next time you get a big feeling about something, stop and check your own mind, suspend your judgement and ask yourself: “What is true here?”

I dare you.