I was woken up at 4am Thursday morning by my thoughts having only got to sleep at 12.30am. Not ideal in itself. However, whenever I’m woken by my thoughts I’ve learned to trust and act on them as they tend to be related to what I’m really feeling about a specific situation.
I’m aware that you shouldn’t always attach yourself to your thoughts as often they’re neither helpful nor true. However, for me, these intrusive early awakenings are usually a sign where I need to pay attention.
What was it that woke me up in the middle of the night?
It wasn’t concerns about the extreme state of flux the world seems to be in currently although that has been on my mind. Nor was it about the election results we’ve woken up to hear this morning. Nor was it locating our next home which will become a reality at some stage in the next 18 months.
No, it was my choice of subtitle for my book!
With my editor, it had been decided way back in May but it had been bothering me for a while as it just didn’t seem right. It was only just as the final cover design was needing to be locked down that I realised I had to do something about it. This deadline pushed me to really think whether it was right and that resulted in me waking up at the crack of dawn to write an email to my editor voicing my concerns.
Well, I’m glad I did as all has now been resolved. My editor rang me first thing Thursday morning to talk through my doubts and concerns. We agreed to change the subtitle and I’m much happier with the revision. So, now we can move on to the next steps: designing the spine, back cover and the internal layout. This book writing is intense!
In sharing this occurrence, I’m reminded of what Byron Katie writes in her brilliant book, Loving What Is*, that thoughts or stories appear in your mind hundreds of times a day, however, they are to be taken as untested, un-investigated theories about what things might mean. Sometimes you don’t even realise or forget that they’re just thoughts or stories and it’s important to recognise they’re often not actually the truth.
In this case though at 4am, I chose to believe my thoughts. I trusted that they provided me with the key information about what I really felt. After short reflection, I took action and as all is well leaving me free to turn my attention towards all the other concerns I’m facing in life!
What do you do to challenge your thoughts for their truth?
Focus on Thoughts. Focus on WHY!
ACTION POINT - What thought do you have that you really need to take action on?
BOOK RECOMMENDATION
Loving What Is by Byron Katie - https://amzn.eu/d/05jYyq7O
*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Comments