On your next walk, think of your thoughts and emotions as little puffy clouds in the sky. The vast open blueness of the sky is you, your essence, your True Self. Endless. As a thought or feeling comes up, put its name on a cloud and watch the cloud float away. No judgments. The thoughts and feelings aren’t good or bad. They just are. They’re not permanent. They aren’t who you are. You are the backdrop for them. You aren’t connected to them. It’s your choice to focus on them and make them grow into thunderclouds or to let them drift by or dissipate as the little puffy clouds they are.
Realizing that we are not our thoughts and emotions is very freeing. We are free to choose. Others don’t make us feel or do anything. Consciously or subconsciously, we are always making choices about how to act or react. Taking on that responsibility is very freeing. We’re no longer a victim. We are free to choose our own experiences of the world.
