No, I am not going to go into details about the power of “The Secret.” What I am going to talk about is something that has been haunting my thoughts for a few days. First, I read about The Work of Byron Katie. Katie’s overall process and theory is that you can identify and question the thoughts that cause all of your suffering. Then ask yourself, “Is it true?” Most of the time, we are just haunted and harassed by our own thoughts. The things we fear. The actions we dread. The relationships we fail. The people we question. Everything we see and feel is determined by our thoughts.

I started to get overwhelmed with this thinking and put it out of my mind. But the mind has a way of not letting you put anything “out.” This theory kept coming back to me. Am I a slave to my own thoughts? Are my thoughts my own worst enemy?

Then I visited my favorite blogger, Aidan Donnelley Rowley, and she posted about this very topic today! She was recapping her event with Marie Forleo who said that “You have a mind, but you are not your mind.” Aidan detailed Marie’s talk and quoted a particularly poignant statement by Marie:

You have a mind, but you are not your mind. You are also not the conversation you have with yourself in your mind. You may be thinking, “What conversation? What is she talking about?” That one!

…Your mind … is a past/future fear-based machine that is primarily concerned with survival. It’s always comparing, analyzing, scheming, and talking to you about what you need to do in order to become better, prettier, more successful, or more attractive. The mind is usually not supportive of your irresistibility. It likes to talk about your mistakes and how bad, unattractive, stupid, or unworthy you are. (By the way, none of those things your mind talks to you about are actually true, but unless you become aware that you are not your mind, you believe them to be true.)

Take a look at all of the things that cause you anxiety or stress on a daily basis. Are they actual events, or are they the way you perceive those events?Are people causing you stress or is it the baggage from previous issues with those people that is causing you stress?

Does your mind play tricks on you?

Does most of your stress and anxiety come from your own thoughts?

What would happen if you eliminated these stressful thoughts? And is it possible to eliminate these stressful thoughts?