Are you tempted to feel like a fraud?

Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

You have a lot of thoughts.

On any given day, at any moment, thousands of them about hundreds of different things filter through your mind.

From clothes to snacks to planning vacations to scheming vengeance to finding time to go for a walk because you love to walk and you need to walk and when can you fit in a walk - so many thoughts crammed into tiny spaces of time.

It's estimated that you have around 50,000 thoughts a day - a different thought every two seconds. Around 95% of those thoughts are repeats: narratives and plot lines and details of different stories you've been telling yourself for years.

Dr. Shad Helmstetter said:

"After examining the philosophies, the theories, and the practised methods of influencing human behaviour, I was shocked to learn the simplicity of that one small fact: You will become what you think about most; your success or failure in anything, large or small, will depend on your programming - what you accept from others, and what you say when you talk to yourself… The brain simply believes what you tell it most. And what you tell it about you, it will create. It has no choice."

There will always be things to worry about because there will always be people and circumstances and events and issues and moments and ideas and projects that you care about.

There will always be a temptation to feel like a fraud, to hide in your thoughts, to project a more palatable version of yourself to the world because vulnerability takes courage, and to offer yourself, your true self, to those you love, to your neighbour, to who is considered an enemy, and to complete strangers, takes faith and trust.

The temptation is to think that the battle is with your mind. That the mind is the enemy, and that to be free of its vices, we need to think of "authentic and real, honourable and admirable, beautiful and respectful, pure and holy, merciful and kind… and every glorious work of God" (Phil 4:8 TPT) outside of ourselves.

But the opposite is true - Your mind isn't the problem; the attachments you make to certain thoughts are. And the good news is that because you are not your thoughts, you have the capacity, the wiring, and the hardware, to change them, to re-write the narratives in your mind about you, and others, and the world.

Let it start here:

There is goodness in you. You are good. You are the manifestation of God's goodness. Your goodness includes all of you. Integrity isn't perfection: integrity is about living your truth and standing in your power. Let yourself be.

There is no enemy to fight. There is no curse to cure. You don't have to rid yourself of yourself and pray yourself into a frenzy to find peace.

You need only to be present and aware, to show up in love and courage, to here and now.

Pema Chodron said:

"Peace isn't an experience free of challenges, free of rough and smooth; it's an experience that's expansive enough to include all that arises without feeling threatened."

Practice being still.
Practice non-striving.
Practice loving yourself.
Practice "filling your mind and meditating on things [that are] true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, and gracious"* about yourself, others, and this crazy, messy, beautiful life that we all share.

Guided Meditation - Tape Player:

Mindful Prompt: Practice coming home to your breath. It's the meeting place of the human and the holy, and its expansiveness; in the space between the inhales and the exhales, you'll begin to recognise the peace you seek.

Continued in the upcoming series on mindfulness "What To Do With Your Thoughts", featuring guided mindfulness mediation each day, this week with a subscription in the App.

Written by Liz Milani.
Instagram: @thepracticeco