Last night I missed my plane to India
I was so excited packing my bags, this was it, I was off on an adventure. Ten whole days that I had managed to clear from my schedule, I so needed the break from work, and from my family life.
Getting in the car, there was a bit of doubt in my mind, could I really pull this off, arrive in India with no plan, nowhere to stay and just see what happens?
But then the car wouldn’t start, really right now, what a time to break down. Luckily my brother was still awake, so a quick call and he arrived to drive me to the airport. A lot later than I wanted to set off, but I should still make it in time.
Getting to the airport, I was a bit confused about where to go, and time was ticking by. Now the last stretch, running along the corridor to the gate for my departure, dragging my wheeled case behind me.
But then I saw the hostess looking at me and putting the sign out to say boarding has closed. I was about to argue with her, I was just so disappointed. But then I woke up. It was all a dream!
I really felt it though, all the excitement, the anxiety about getting to the airport on time and then the disappointment. It just seemed so real. I’m sure you’ve experienced dreams like this.
All of this was created in my mind, the story, the people and my actual felt experience. The thing is this doesn’t just happen when we’re asleep. We live in a thought generated reality, every moment of every day is being created in your thoughts.
Your eyes are not windows that you look out onto the world. Instead, you receive information from all of your senses, add your thoughts and memories, and create an internally generated reality. It works from the inside out.
Sometimes your mind will drift into the future, trying to plan for every eventuality, and getting caught up with the worries of how you will cope. Maybe feeling stressed or anxious, because as you create this reality, it feels so real, just like my dream felt like it was really happening.
The next moment your mind may take you into the past, going over and over the same things, trying to figure out how things would have worked out if you had said or behaved in differently.
All of this may be going on in your mind, when in actual fact right now in the present moment you are entirely safe, maybe just sitting at home in your favourite chair.
It feels so real because your feelings are real. Feelings create physical sensations in your body, maybe a tightness in your throat when you’re feeling sad, or a tension in your shoulders when you’re feeling stressed.
However, feelings don’t know anything about you, who you are or what you are currently doing. All your feelings know is what you're thinking or creating in your mind right now.
When you watch a great movie, you can actually feel scared or joy alongside the characters. But you are not part of the film, just experiencing it in your mind. And just like that, you can press, ‘pause’ and fall out of the reality of the movie.
The same is true for your thought generated reality, in an instant, you can fall out of the stresses and anxiety of your thinking and wake up to what is really true, right now.
