What’s Your Background Feeling?

In the past, when my mind would get quiet, I was faced with uneasiness within. It felt like some calamity was about to happen, something terrible.

This feeling would never leave me; it was always there, at the back of my mind.

I was too frightened to find out its cause, as I assumed that this feeling of anxiety must be hiding something truly horrible. I never dared to question this hidden ‘something’, assigning a meaning and reality to it that came from nothing more but my assumptions.

Throughout years, upon the enquiry into the content of my thoughts, I realized why this feeling of a looming calamity was with me.

It was because of the nature of my thoughts. They were mainly negative, and they disturbed the peace of my mind, which caused this feeling. The mind was hurt, therefore I was feeling uneasy.

It’s like when you fall down and hurt your leg, and as a response you feel pain. And so the same is with the mind. Certain thoughts hurt it, and thus you feel the hurt in the form of anxiety/uneasiness.

So that was it. This mysterious and terrible thing that haunted me for so long was nothing more than a bundle of negative thoughts. How foolish it was of me to be convinced of some permanent and unchangeable evil within because of the feeling of uneasiness! I was like a child scared of the shadows on the wall and giving them the qualities they don’t have.

Now, whenever my mind quietens, I cannot shake off the feeling that something amazing is about to happen. So I feel exactly the opposite to how I felt in the past.

There’s a feeling that the energy is being arranged for some incredible miracle to take place, so every day is a blessed day in this quiet anticipation. I love this background feeling as it keeps me stress-free and happy.

This background feeling isn’t happiness, but it’s the expectation of something wonderful which gives birth to the feeling of happiness. This background feeling makes me feel very safe and at ease. There’s the inner knowing too that I’m on the right path and that all that happens is for my highest good. It’s hard at this stage to believe that in the past I was worried about the future and had doubts of all sorts.

What’s your background feeling? Is it similar to the one I described at first, or my current one?

Usually the background feeling that promises bliss doesn’t come by default; an unkept garden is not going to transform into a neat one without any work.

To have this beautiful background feeling you need to change the story you tell to yourself about your life. You need to only entertain positive thoughts, and you need to fully understand that any negative thought is like a knife that hurts your mind. It will surely help you to see each negative thought as a sharp knife threatening your well-being, so that this visible affirmation keeps you even more on guard against such unwelcome intruders (negative thoughts).

As soon as these negative thoughts vanish from your mind, that ‘mysterious’ feeling of looming calamity will be no more. That’s all that it was in the mystery – negative thoughts.

Your background feeling won’t change overnight, but the more you try to consciously uproot negative thoughts, the quicker it will shift.

Try to notice what words you use when you speak, as they will point to the thoughts behind the words. Try to observe your mind any time you’re free. Such self-reflection will make the content of your mind obvious to you, and you can only change it when you’re aware of it.

Whenever you notice a negative thought, instantly replace it with an opposite one.That’s the strategy that I used and it worked wonders. I kept patiently changing thought after thought this way until the change started happening automatically, and finally only positive thoughts remained in my mind.

So, for example, when you get a thought “I have no money”, straight away replace it with “I have plenty of money”. It would do you good to keep repeating this opposite thought to get the feeling of its reality.

It will take time to establish this habit, but once you do, it will be effortless to keep replacing negative thoughts with positive ones. And then one day you’ll wake up to realize that the feeling of impending disaster is no more; instead, you’ll feel like something amazing will soon happen to you. And then you’ll know that you’ve changed your background feeling, which will signify that your mind is no longer hurt by negative thoughts.

Once your background feeling changes to the expectation of a miracle, you’ll become a magnet to all that’s good in the world. In response to being the recipient of all that’s good, you’ll give to the world all that’s good. Your life will become that of never-ending joy and everlasting peace.

Resource: simonarich.com