Just how aware or mindful are we in the moment, when we are acquiring new information, new knowledge, learning a new skill? How do we determine when we “know enough” to do it right and well, without little to no thought? (-rhetorical question actually, we don’t “know” per se; at that point we just “do”).
For example: do you remember that moment, when you learned how to ride a bike or drive a car? The up-and-down-process likely went in either one of two directions: either “hey, I’m getting the hang of it! cool!” or “oh darn… this sucks, I’m not good at this!”. If you went like the first instance, it’s likely that you are driving around in/on your vehicle comfortably, by the way, automatically. If your experience went less smoothly or uplifting, then there’s a high chance you are still experiencing the same “struggle” anytime you confront the task, correct? How often do you catch yourself with the same thought (“I’m not good at this”) in those cases? See – the same thought arises, because the “operator”, your subconscious mind, is still in the same operating mode. It’s just doing its job of being our personal best YES-man (whom we never asked to be that, really). “Shall we take a look deeper?” “Yes“, said the subconscious…
While leisurely reading articles on various topics, I came across the fun sentence “your subconscious mind isn’t very smart!”. “Of course it is! It knows everything, even some things my consciousness doesn’t!”, I thought to myself. The second afterward, when my ego-driven consciousness went from zero to a hundred and then back again, I realized something with more truth to it, as I thought “wait, it really isn’t that smart, I mean it accepts ANYTHING I tell it”. That’s where it clicked, that it is very much performing the role of a “yes-man”, almost completely naive to the concept of “true/false”.
Many times we come across the saying “your mind accepts everything you feed it”. That speaks directly about the subconscious part, which doesn’t really have a “filter” through which thoughts pass. To compare it a bit clearer: the conscious mind, on the other hand, has a veeery strong filter present, namely what is commonly referred to as “our ego-self”. Now, there are disputes out there, that “ego is evil” or an obstacle, we absolutely have to conquer, but fact of the matter is, that we very much NEED this filter of ego to function well in this life, in this world, time and place. That being said, this same filter, as necessary as it may be, is still the major cause of many modern turmoils and tribulations. Those, which the subconscious doesn’t have to deal with… because it just says “yes” to everything.
Examples of thoughts like:
“I am bad at [subject]” – mind: “yes, I am“; “I will never get a job” – mind: “yes, that is correct“; “People keep telling me I’m lazy” – mind: “yes“… any situation, really.
Point is, that it doesn’t filter any thought, it simply accepts it. But it doesn’t stop there. Our mind, as a whole, is inclined towards automating processes as much as possible, so it doesn’t have to strain itself that much each time it in contact with a familiar situation. This “automation” is more prevalent than ever in our modern, high-speed, “quick living”-times. From that aspect too, the need and use of mindfulness and awareness is appropriately encouraged.
The automated thoughts then tend to become so repetitive and rigid, that they turn into “rules” of the mind, which we keep repeating to ourselves until they become “our truth“. Not our “true truth”, but one we have convinced ourselves to believe. (There is an inter-play of the conscious and subconscious here, but we will go into the details of that in another post.) Just like the subconscious mind helps us with learning new things, it also tends to obstruct us when we repeat negative thoughts/comments, inadvertently. Another good example of balance in daily life (aspect of duality).
The silver lining here is, that just as “easy” as our subconsciousness repeats and automates negative thoughts and responses, it can do the same with positive and uplifting ones. If we return to our example from before, whenever you catch yourself on the verge of thinking or saying something like “oh, I’m not good at this”, if you can, stop yourself in that moment. Just interrupting the thought is already a big step to practicing mindfulness. The next step would be, again, if/when you can, to replace that negative one with a more positive one, like maybe “it’s been a while since I’ve tried last…” or “it can’t be that bad, let me try again” or “I know it seems scary, but it’s going to benefit me”… keypoint with this aspect is repetition. This is very much a learning process. But once you repeat it enough times, you can rest assured, that your inner best yes-man will be at your service to help you make the change you are undertaking. 🙂
“Your mind will always believe everything you tell it. Feed it truth. Feed it hope. Feed it with love.” ❤
How does your inner yes-man suit you? Did you perhaps realize a negative thought you are/were subconsciously repeating to yourself? Do you have a story of learning, where you used similar practices, that you would like to share? If you felt inspired, amused or entertained or intrigued in any way, please do leave a reply. 🙂 Thank you for reading and have a pleasant day. ❤
Moment in time 