My thoughts are often like cows who walk the same path day after day to the feeding troughs in my mind, which are filled with all the stuff that nurtures my story and keeps my addictive pain cycles alive.
My little cow thoughts believe that what was true yesterday is still true today and will, of course, be true tomorrow. They’ve worn a deep path into my psyche and cells that very effectively lures my past right into my future over and over again.
I’ve tried to herd the cows and force them in a new direction, but then my body hurts, my mind gets scared, and my thoughts start screaming, which creates a cow stampede back onto the path.
How does one get beyond this? I know freedom is out there...somewhere...but how do I experience it?
My little cow thoughts believe that what was true yesterday is still true today and will, of course, be true tomorrow. They’ve worn a deep path into my psyche and cells that very effectively lures my past right into my future over and over again.
I’ve tried to herd the cows and force them in a new direction, but then my body hurts, my mind gets scared, and my thoughts start screaming, which creates a cow stampede back onto the path.
How does one get beyond this? I know freedom is out there...somewhere...but how do I experience it?
I’ve been watching this madness for a while now. The cows know they are being watched. They look about nervously, scanning the horizon, sensing change in the wind, but then they scamper back to the path and hot-foot it straight to the feeding troughs. It’s fascinating. And frustrating.
One day, from my vantage point as the observer, I realized I’d only been looking at the awful path and the stubborn cows and so had no idea what else was out there! By keeping my attention on the crazy cow antics, I'd created a deeper path and more neurotic cows…
Which reminds me of when I tried mountain biking. There were so many rocks on the trail, and when I looked at them, my tires went right where I was looking (ouch). Once I hit a really big rock, which showed me that hitting rocks sucks. I didn’t want to do that again, so now those rocks really had my attention. I saw another big one up ahead. Fear surged through my body, and I locked eyes on that sucker, panicking. I could not look away! I knew how much it was going to hurt when I hit it…and guess what…it did.
If past experience has taught us we will hit the rocks, and the pattern has been worn into us like a bad habit, how do we create a different outcome?
The answer I discovered is this: look somewhere else. Look away from the rocks and beyond the story. There are a million possible choices perpendicular to the path. I can’t force my little cow mind to let go of beliefs (it just resists and grips them harder); but I can choose to just look “over there” and the cow part of me will eventually follow out of sheer curiosity. By looking away I create a bypass around the disaster unfolding in front of me.
Sounds simple, right? It is simple, but it isn't easy. If you happen to be screaming down the cow path at 90 miles per hour, motivated by pain, anger, fear, and a compelling story of being the victim, and the potential accident that lies ahead of you is dramatic and terrifying, and you really really REALLY want to stare at it in fascinated horror, it seems like a mighty feat to look away. But trust me. Just try it. Look…left.
"Won't I crash into the rock? Don’t I need to steer around it? Shouldn’t I slow down first? Wouldn’t one little peek help me avoid the disaster?”
Nope. Analyzing the situation or trying to control what happens only keeps you on the same miserable trajectory. Your mind is still in charge. To get out of the story you must go beyond the cow path of the mind. Look left…just over there. A small shift will do it. There you go!
One day, from my vantage point as the observer, I realized I’d only been looking at the awful path and the stubborn cows and so had no idea what else was out there! By keeping my attention on the crazy cow antics, I'd created a deeper path and more neurotic cows…
Which reminds me of when I tried mountain biking. There were so many rocks on the trail, and when I looked at them, my tires went right where I was looking (ouch). Once I hit a really big rock, which showed me that hitting rocks sucks. I didn’t want to do that again, so now those rocks really had my attention. I saw another big one up ahead. Fear surged through my body, and I locked eyes on that sucker, panicking. I could not look away! I knew how much it was going to hurt when I hit it…and guess what…it did.
If past experience has taught us we will hit the rocks, and the pattern has been worn into us like a bad habit, how do we create a different outcome?
The answer I discovered is this: look somewhere else. Look away from the rocks and beyond the story. There are a million possible choices perpendicular to the path. I can’t force my little cow mind to let go of beliefs (it just resists and grips them harder); but I can choose to just look “over there” and the cow part of me will eventually follow out of sheer curiosity. By looking away I create a bypass around the disaster unfolding in front of me.
Sounds simple, right? It is simple, but it isn't easy. If you happen to be screaming down the cow path at 90 miles per hour, motivated by pain, anger, fear, and a compelling story of being the victim, and the potential accident that lies ahead of you is dramatic and terrifying, and you really really REALLY want to stare at it in fascinated horror, it seems like a mighty feat to look away. But trust me. Just try it. Look…left.
"Won't I crash into the rock? Don’t I need to steer around it? Shouldn’t I slow down first? Wouldn’t one little peek help me avoid the disaster?”
Nope. Analyzing the situation or trying to control what happens only keeps you on the same miserable trajectory. Your mind is still in charge. To get out of the story you must go beyond the cow path of the mind. Look left…just over there. A small shift will do it. There you go!
At first glance it looks like NOTHING is out there in the unknown wilderness off the path. It’s as if there is a veil between you and any other possibility. Let’s call it the “impossibility veil”. Any other reality feels…well…impossible.
This is because your senses have been focused on what has always been true (a.k.a. the path filled with rocks) and they can't yet perceive all the other potentials of what could be. Those potentials aren’t in your reality just yet. They exist in a slightly different dimension, but they are still yours to choose.
I know what you are thinking…there is a lot of momentum pushing you down that old cow path. The cows still want to go to the feeding trough and get their hit, and your destiny feels solid and unchangeable. But trust me, just by looking off the path you have changed the game. You may not realize it yet, but the rules of creation just opened up.
In our next blog post, we will explore how to sense those mysterious possibilities so you can choose a new one. Until then…enjoy being the watcher of your thoughts. Consider if there might be other new and joyful, rock-free experiences you would like to explore, and lean into the possibility that they exist and are waiting for you to choose them. Because…they are.
This is because your senses have been focused on what has always been true (a.k.a. the path filled with rocks) and they can't yet perceive all the other potentials of what could be. Those potentials aren’t in your reality just yet. They exist in a slightly different dimension, but they are still yours to choose.
I know what you are thinking…there is a lot of momentum pushing you down that old cow path. The cows still want to go to the feeding trough and get their hit, and your destiny feels solid and unchangeable. But trust me, just by looking off the path you have changed the game. You may not realize it yet, but the rules of creation just opened up.
In our next blog post, we will explore how to sense those mysterious possibilities so you can choose a new one. Until then…enjoy being the watcher of your thoughts. Consider if there might be other new and joyful, rock-free experiences you would like to explore, and lean into the possibility that they exist and are waiting for you to choose them. Because…they are.
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