Your thinking mind, also referred to as your ego, has a sole purpose.
That sole purpose is to distract you from the present moment. While the ego has only one purpose, the way it goes about fulfilling that purpose is infinite.
Imagine you find yourself sitting on a beach taking in a glorious sunset. The sand is ideal, the kind that's super silky. There’s a sparse, texturized cloud pattern ripping across the sky. The sky is filling with tangerine, lavender, and crimson as the sun nears the horizon. The salty sea and fresh, suntan lotion, fill your nostrils. The sound of lapping waves and the distant cry of birds lull you into a deep state of serenity. The sun is a perfect circle of ambered radiance.
You still with me or daydreaming of Cabo?
All you wanna do is sit back and enjoy the spectacle. But your ego does not want you to enjoy the spectacle, it wants to punch you in the groin.
What the hell, right?
The ego is going to make us think about the past, find fault with a present, or worry about the future.
And if we’re caught up in any of these particular shit-shows, we’re not able to see life for what it really is through a peaceful and present state of awareness.
Ommmm…
This is where the pain comes in. You know – from the knuckle sandwich to the sacrals.
Because the ego is one convincing little shit… and it makes us believe one of these three things:
Our past should have been different, better and that’s why our present is far from ideal.
That it’s OK to be upset about over all the crap that’s happening in the current moment.
All that very scary shit in the future is going to destroy us.
This is the job of the ego, because actually what it's trying to do is protect us from suffering. I can hear you ask: "How the heck does a roundhouse to the crotchal region protect me?" The ego had to think like this back in the day when EVERYTHING was trying to hurt us. Think caveman, cavewoman, cavenon-binary days. But now we are at the top of the food chain and have a pretty masterful hand over our environment so we don't need all the proactive “Ooga booga – what if this sh*t goes down?” kind of thoughts anymore. And since we don't have anything concerning (like 99% of the time), the ego will create something in order to “protect us”. Bastard! Have you ever watched the Mountain Rangers cause intentional avalanches? They do that, so that a naturally occurring avalanche doesn’t come in, and harm a bunch of people or destroy a village. It’s a good thing. The ego causes an intentional avalanche of the mind and ends up causing a tremendous amount of suffering. The worst part of it is, there was no need for the avalanche in the first place, because we weren’t under any threat. Deep breath… so the responsibility now falls on us to retrain our minds and therefore experience what I call: the attrition of ego. Here’s how that process looks…
There are three things we need to understand which will make a significant impact on the quality of our mind and therefore life. 1.) You have to be upset enough with the quality of your life in order to change it. 2.) You have to believe there is opportunity to transform your mind and life. 3.) You have to be disciplined enough to implement and sustain transformational practices and habits. And you don’t have to change your entire life, you can simply focus on a particular area: work, relationships, physical health, emotional fortitude, self-value, etc. But it all begins with realizing the current situation is not good enough and you’re NOT willing to settle. If you’re thinking about that situation right now, ask yourself if you’re motivated enough, inspired enough, and disciplined enough to BE the change you desire. If the answer is: yes - you’ve already won. It’s time to get started. If you need help in that department, I encourage you to check out a couple of these resources that I think are phenomenal for getting started: The Untethered Soul (my favorite book for beginners, understanding the inner workings of their mind) Meditation (email me and I will send you a free copy of my beginners guide if you’re looking to get started) Transformational Course (I have an awesome membership with a BRAND NEW 21 Day Transformation Course Included! – Click Here to Check it Out) What's Included: Inspiration, Education, & Motivation – Nearly 100 Videos helping you heal your past, celebrate your present & create an abundant future. We're talking guided meditations, dozens of empowerment practices, mindset mastery methods, performance techniques, prosperity tips, manifestation guidelines, visualization steps, ego retraining, conscious & subconscious reprogramming and so much more it's crazy to try and list it all out here. Get Started with my 21 Day Transformation! You should be proud of yourself if you’ve decided to make a change. That’s the hardest part, it’s a sh*t ton harder than actually making the change. If the hardest part is behind you, let that empower you and your journey and celebrate yourself for taking the first step. With gratitude, Joe Hehn