Where Do The Monsters Go?

Since your experience in any given moment is exactly equal to what you are thinking in that very moment, that means that when you’re thinking about your monster, you feel your monster. And when you’re not thinking about your monster, your monster does not exist. – Amy Johnson

I loved reading the article from which I took the above. (Here it is, if you want to read the whole thing.)

Whatever your “monster” is – whether it be a scary thought about the future, or what might happen if you try something new, or . . . – ask yourself, where does it “go” when you’re not thinking about it?

Does it “go away” to sleep, or hide, or rest – or terrorize another person?

What if your monster only existed in your thoughts?

In a semi-rational sense, that makes perfect sense, after all, it’s your monster and you only feel bad/scared/powerless when you think about it.

Okay, now that we agree that your monster “belongs” to you, let’s get at it where it is, where it lives.

I think, now that we’re having a lucid, rational conversation, we can agree that your monster doesn’t actually exist – it’s something you make-up in your head, in your thoughts.

So, to stop having the monster, just stop thinking about it.

We make things real by feeling them, and we feel things by thinking about them.

Without thoughts about “monsters” there are no monsters.

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But how do we stop thinking about “monsters?”

Not by forcing ourselves to not think about them, but by choosing other thoughts.

Continually, regularly and authentically.

The way to do this is to get clear about what you want and what you want to feel.

Write it down, repeatedly, and refine your idea of what you want.

Then create a practice where you calm your mind (some form of meditation . . . ).

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Once you’ve begun to calm your mind you will have the freedom, and capability, to think better: to think about what you want – and thus feel the emotions of excitement and willingness to act – instead of your “monsters.”