Loosen the Grip of Thoughts

Today I am grateful for some needed rain and for road construction. Improvements are coming, and I am reminded of how fortunate we are to have the streets and highways we do. 

I continue to appreciate the fruitful morning meditation time to which I have committed. A few minutes makes a difference. It helps physically calm me, but more to bring mental focus and emotional clarity. 

It helps loosen the grip of thoughts, which are often some of my biggest obstacles. My best thinking got me drunk more than a few times. Years into recovery, my thinking hasn’t lead to a drink, but it can take me to unhealthy places--complacency, rigidity, neediness, repetitive and counterproductive thought patterns. 

A recent meditation asked listeners to consider thoughts more as sensations. Like we hear a sound and then it’s gone. Or a smell wafts our way and then recedes. Thoughts can come and go like a touch. Start strong like a first bite of savory food, then go away. 

Too often I give my thoughts, especially the detrimental, fear and ego-driven kinds that have plagued me my whole life, too much credibility. They are just thoughts. They come and go. They aren’t absolute truths. To consider them this way, more like a sensation, is quite helpful. 

They become more fleeting, less gripping. More objective, less obsessive. Overthinking and a cluttered mind are given less energy. Clarity, priorities, and healthy thoughts emerge more readily.