There is nothing more important than having a quiet mind. It does not matter how much money you make, how great a relationship you have, or what kind of work you do - if you do not have a good mind, you will not have a good life.
Having a quiet mind is no easy task. Most of us have bought into the idea that having a busy life is the same as having a life of substance, but nothing could be further from the truth. Everything needs rest and when you fill your life to overflowing, never allowing for down-time, you pay the consequences.
The main consequence of a non-stop life is a frantic mind.
A frantic mind never stops; it tortures us. It flits from one thought to another, never choosing where to go but simply being held hostage to whatever thought pops into the mind. Without ever having developed the ability to step back and OBSERVE our thoughts, we think we are our thoughts. And by identifying with our thoughts (being attached to them), we cannot decide which ones we want to think about and which ones we want to let go.
It is important to understand that the nature of the mind is to have thoughts - one thought having the same value as the next to the mind. Just like to a leopard all his spots are the same, to the mind, all thoughts are equal.
Actually putting some time aside every day to quiet the mind is the first step. We have created the busy life we have precisely because we do not want to stop. We inherently know that stopping will require us to "feel' our life and that is exactly what we have been avoiding. A frantic mind keeps the feelings at bay, and keeps us anesthetized. It is the excuse we need to avoid dealing with our feelings. "I'm so busy, I don't have time to deal with this now," is what we tell ourselves.
But the moment we decide to take a time-out, something different begins to happen. Whether meditating or simply sitting still and being aware of our thoughts, a gap begins to occur between the thought and you, and that slight gap allows you to observe rather than get sucked-in. The act of observation instantly slows the mind and we begin to feel some sense of peace.
Now is the time to ask yourself if you have a good mind. If the answer is no, start setting aside some time during the day to do nothing, think nothing. Give yourself permission to feel your life, rather than than about it. Get used to observing your thoughts rather than chasing them, and enjoy the connection to your spirit, the one that comes from a quiet mind.
