“Mom! Come quick! There’s a monster in my room!” Responding not to the possibility that there was a monster, but rather to the panic in her child’s voice, the mother dashes back to calm her daughter. A trembling finger points to a large and strange shadow in the corner of the bedroom.
The mother calmly turns on the overhead light to illuminate the new clothes tree they had assembled that afternoon, now full with a unicorn headband, backpack and a jacket. The new addition did indeed create a strange shape on the wall, but was nothing to fear.
“Would you like me to take these things down from the clothes tree?”
“No, it’s okay,” the daughter responds. “Now that I know it’s just my stuff I’m not afraid of it anymore.”
While this little vignette seems just a simple story from childhood, what if I told you we often do the same things ourselves?
We are the terrified child, and the ‘monster’ in the room is the fearful thoughts we think and believe. Our ego-based thinking churns out thoughts that would make anyone scream in fright. If we accept and believe them without questioning them (turning on the light), they are indeed terror-inducing. Thoughts like –
What if I never find love?
What if my loved one never gets through this phase?
What if I fail again?
What if Life holds nothing more for me than this?
What if things never get better?
What if my best days are behind me?
Scary, no? Without the light of our awareness these thoughts are frightening, yet just as the mother turned on the light to show her daughter the reality of her belongings on a clothes tree, we too can shine the light of our awareness on those thoughts and see them for what they are – the fabricated fear-based thoughts of our ego, whose job it is to keep us safe.
Like the girl in our story, we don’t need to rid ourselves of those thoughts to no longer be afraid. Once we understand they are merely the ramblings of an unchecked mind, we can know peace. It is likely those thoughts will still cross our minds, but when we turn the light of our awareness on them, they no longer have power over us. We can observe them without believing them, and that, my friends, is a beautiful place from which to live.
If you would like support in managing your ‘monsters,’ reach out to schedule a free 30 minute call to explore how our working together can empower you to create and enjoy a more peaceful mind.
