“You can't package stress, touch it, or see it. There are only people engaged in stressful thinking.” - Wayne Dyer

Perhaps, the most important concept to grasp, which is one that will serve you in every aspect of life, is knowing how to access your inner compass, which is the wisdom within. 

Your circumstances in life and the situations you face, are usually out of your control.  Nonetheless, one can be deceived into believing that sheer willpower and overthinking, can control these circumstances. That false belief creates tremendous mental suffering. 

Did you ever wonder why horrible circumstances cause minimal stress in some individuals, while minimal annoyances cause great stress in others? 

This is because situations, circumstances, and trials do not have power to cause stressful thinking. The mind creates stressful thinking out of what can be minor or even non-existent circumstances, in the present moment. 

Of course, if you are being physically attacked or are drowning in a raging river, your body will physically experience appropriate “fight or flight” responses, in an attempt to protect your life. You will not have to “think” about what to do. Your physical body will instinctually react to save you. 

Those same stress hormones are released when you only imagine that you are in danger. The body is programmed for immediate release of these hormones, based on what you are thinking… not based on the reality around you. Like when you are watching a horror movie. The design of the brain is to save your life from real danger. It is not designed to discern between what is real or merely imagined danger. 

Your inner being, the essence of who you really are, your spirit, the force inside of you that animates your body, or whatever name you choose to identify this formless entity, is always connected to Universal wisdom, or the Source of all life. Every being has access to this wisdom. You do not have to follow doctrines, behave a certain way, or do anything to deserve this wisdom. It is already hard-wired within you and every living being.  

Accessing it requires a dance between the spiritual and the physical worlds. 

The human mind or brain, is an amazing organ that controls every aspect of your physical body, including processing massive amounts of data and everything it sees, hears, and perceives. Its sole objective is your physical survival… not your spiritual or mental wellbeing. It is a wonderful servant, but a dysfunctional, controlling, and horrible master.  

The challenge is allowing your inner being to be in control of your life, while using the brain to assist you in that effort; not the other way around. 

This comes by recognizing and being vigilant over your thoughts. Thoughts create feelings, which can provide you with meaningful clues over whether you are in control, or your brain is in control. 

If you are feeling unsettled, anxious, fearful, stuck in feelings of the past or future… your mind (brain) has taken control. You can recognize this from your feelings. Every thought you have, is accompanied by a feeling. This is your clue to the quality of your thoughts, in that moment. 

Once you recognize that your thoughts are creating your turbulent feelings, it weakens their control over you.  Take a couple of slow deep breaths to calm you. Assess your current physical surroundings in the moment. If you are physically safe in THIS moment, your mind is creating imaginary danger that is not happening in the present. If only for a few moments, you can feel calm and peaceful.  With practice, the calm will last for longer periods of time. 

Assess and re-assess your thoughts, many times a day, to gain control over your thinking mind and the flurry of thoughts that are constantly “on”, most of which are not at all helpful. 

When you are feeling peaceful, calm, certain, and sure, your inner being is in control, in that moment. In that peaceful state, you can make better decisions about your life, arising from inner wisdom, not your brain. 

In an anxious, unsettled, irritated state, your mind is in charge of you. You cannot trust your thoughts when you are in that state. It would be unwise to make any important decisions or take any actions, with potentially long-lasting consequences, while in that state of mind. 

The constant dance between the thinking mind and your inner being, is lifelong. You do have the power to ignore thoughts that are not serving you, while paying close attention to those that do. In this way, you can always know what is right for you, in your unique circumstances in life. 

Trust your inner wisdom.  It comes in a whisper, when you are still and at ease. 

If you create even a few moments a day to be still, you will be able to sense this inner wisdom, working within you, just under the surface of your thinking mind. 

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