A Personal Question

What are you thinking - right now? "I'm reading your article!" 
you say. Well, take a little bit of a closer look. What's 
spinning in the back of your mind? Is it that big deadline 
that's looming at the end of the week? Or how you're going to 
deal with your mother-in-law this weekend? Or maybe you're 
worrying about your finances? 

Are you even aware of the thoughts going through your head 
right now? What about... now? 


Some Bad News From the Thought Police

Scientists estimate that an average person will think at a rate 
of roughly between 1 and 4 thoughts per second while awake. 
That's well over 60,000 thoughts during a typical day! And, of 
all this jabbering going on in your head, it's estimated that 
you've thought over 95% of your thoughts before. So, not only 
is your mind generally on a constant hamster wheel, but it's 
also doing this spinning continuously, unproductively - and 
unoriginally. 


The Power Between Your Ears - It's Not What You Think

Enough bad news? Ok - now here's the other side of the story. 
You have within you the greatest, simplest, and most powerful 
tool imaginable. It can lead you to great prosperity, joy, and 
fulfillment - or it can drop you instantly into the depths of 
despair and negativity. 

No, I'm not talking simply about the power of thought - not even 
a fraction of those thousands of stale, repeat thoughts running 
through your head right now will be of much use to you. (Trust 
me; nope, not even the one wondering for the tenth time whether 
you turned the stove off this morning). But what is powerful is 
where you put your attention within all this clatter. 


Mr. Webster Says:

"Attention: Concentration of the mental powers; a close or 
careful observing or listening". So how does that apply to you? 
"Concentration of the mental powers" - all too often, we give 
away the concentration part of our attention to things utterly 
undeserving. Thoughts of worry, negative predictions, minor 
irritations, and daily minutiae are hardly productive, and take 
up too much room in your head. 

And this leaves very little space for the second, critical, 
aspect of attention: "a close or careful observing or 
listening". We, as a culture, don't like to sit back and 
listen. We prefer to be constantly inundated with forceful 
messages which grab our attention and don't let go. We too 
often forget to sit back and actually listen to the small 
voice of intuition. You know, the one that already has the 
answers that we're trying so hard to figure out. 


Try It Now

Give it a shot. Really. Stop for a minute, and focus actively 
on your thoughts - concentrate. What are you thinking? You know, 
that quiet and incessant little buzz behind your eyes; that 
unsettled feeling - what's behind that? Now shift your attention 
to listening, see if there's a message waiting for you. Just 
below the surface, what is it saying? Listen... You're now 
learning to distinguish the noise of your mind from the voice 
of your intuition, your inner knowing - all through the tool 
of attention. 


You Are Not Your Thoughts

There's huge power in putting your attention actively on your 
thoughts. This helps you to separate the you from the thought. 
You are not your thoughts, you are having thoughts, they are 
passing through your head. You are bigger than your thoughts, 
and you can choose whether or not you want to give them power. 
And you do this by either giving them your attention, or by 
allowing them to just float on by. 


Head and Heart

And it's not just thoughts that you can focus your attention 
on. As cognitive psychologists and holistic healers have known 
for years, emotions and thoughts are deeply intertwined. One 
influences the other, and both influence your physical 
biochemistry. So learning to actively focus your attention on 
the thoughts and feelings you want, while letting go of those 
you don't want, could be the best thing you'll ever do for 
your health, your well being, and your happiness. 


Oy Vey

"Great", you may say. "But it isn't so easy to catch my thoughts 
and feelings, or to do something about them. I don't even know 
how I feel half of the time, and the thoughts go by so quickly!" 
Fear not - here's are a few simple exercises. 


Use Your Words

One way to "catch" your fleeting thoughts and feelings and to 
focus your attention on them is to "use your words". Just like a 
parent may tell an unruly and whining child who is about to pick 
a fight to "use your words" to explain what's bothering him, so 
can you gently nudge yourself to discipline. This may seem 
silly, but it's remarkably powerful. Write down or speak out 
loud (or into a tape recorder) exactly what the thoughts and 
feelings are. Articulating them clearly gives them shape and 
focus, and allows you much more freedom to act in a way that 
supports your growth. 


Thanks For Sharing

Now, as for how to manage the spinning and repeating thoughts, 
here's a very simple and effective trick. Just like a parent 
knows not to take everything their child says too seriously, you 
can also learn to distinguish helpful thoughts and feelings from 
destructive ones. You can simply tell your thinker - "thanks for 
sharing. I will take your comments under advisement. Now, please 
move along". 

So What?

So how does all this relate to helping you find "what's next", 
or guiding you to "a you-er you"? Very directly, actually. If 
you practice putting your direct attention on the jabbering of 
your mind, articulating those slippery thoughts, and consciously 
and purposefully telling them "thanks for sharing!" and then 
purposefully re-focusing your attention where YOU choose, you 
will begin to create the space for your true inner voice to 
come through. 


Plant the Seeds:

Now it's your turn. Take a couple of minutes and try these 
exercises. Really. Try it now. You never know - hey, what's 
next...?

1. Practice noticing your thoughts. Try the exercise in the 
   "Try it Now" section above. Really. 

2. Use your words. Get over feeling silly, and actually write 
   down what your thoughts are. Try speaking, try using a tape 
   recorder. Experiment. Notice which thoughts show up over and 
   over. Note your top 5 - make friends with them, and thank 
   them profusely for sharing. And remember - attention is 
   power. What thoughts are you giving your power to? 

3. Choose consciously. Once you become aware of the thoughts 
   going through your head, you can begin to make choices. For 
   example: "Hm, I've been thinking a lot about how unhappy I 
   am in my job. Thanks for sharing. Duly noted. I think I'll 
   choose to focus my attention elsewhere right now, thanks." 


P.S.  So - what are you thinking... now? 

As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts, comments, and 
insights. Drop me a line at mailto:in@heyWhatsNext.com. 



© 2004 Inna Nirenburg