You Are Not Your Thoughts

*The following post is inspired from “The Untethered Soul” by Michael A. Singer. I recently started listening to the audiobook, and I already have learned much. To fully understand Singer’s message, I highly recommend reading it for yourself.

I’m sure you’ve noticed the voice in your head. And you probably also noticed that most of what it says is pretty pointless. 

When you walk outside and see a tree, this voice may say, “That is a tree.”

And you will probably respond, “No sh*t”

But there is something important happening in this scenario. 

You see, this voice is the source of thought. Any thoughts you have can be attributed to this ‘inner roommate.’

Since these thoughts come from the voice inside your head, this inner voice is you, right?

Well, no.

Notice how earlier I gave an example of you responding “No sh*t” to your inner voice.

But what is the word ‘you’ referring to? It can’t be this voice, because you notice and listen to the voice.

Thoughts have a subject-object relationship, meaning that if you notice and listen to your thoughts, you cannot be them. 

This is the key. You are the subject while your thoughts are the object. 

And this is one of the most freeing discoveries you can make. I’m not sure about you, but my inner dialogue is really annoying. Most of the time, it provides nothing helpful. 

For example, does your inner roommate bring up past mistakes when trying to sleep? Does it say useless things when you're doing even the most mundane tasks? Does it overthink and question every single thing you ever do?

To paint an even better picture, imagine if this ‘inner roommate’ was an actual person. And now imagine you have to live with them for every single moment of your life.

I’m not sure about you, but I wouldn't even last a day. I would probably try to punch them before an hour has passed. So why do you give this voice so much credit when it’s in your own head?

Hope you enjoyed this week's post. You may be asking, “If I’m not my thoughts, who am I?”

And this is the topic of next week's post. I’m looking forward to it.

Keep making progress. Change for the better. Live the Heming-way.

Til next time,

Trevor