Psyche logo

Why Identifying With Your Mind Is Destroying You

The most challenging obstacle we face is what’s going on inside our heads.

By Carlos VelascoPublished 2 years ago 4 min read
Like
Photo by Brett Sayles from Pexels

As I said before in another article: the mind is the greatest tool we have. Our mind is there for us to use it in a specific task and when the task is finished, it leaves us alone and waits for other tasks to arrive.

Yeah, that’s a funny one.

For a lot of people, this is not how things work. From time to time, we feel overwhelmed by our thoughts, especially in moments of crisis. What is happening is that we are identifying and defining ourselves with the thoughts that are going inside our heads. Isn’t that crazy?

Just stop to think of it for a second. We are defining ourselves with something that isn’t even real, is only real in our heads.

So why are we having such a bad time when we know is not real?

Let’s say you have a negative thought about yourself and you can’t seem to get rid of it. The human brain is so used to highlighting only the bad aspects of any situation and staying with them so that in your mind the only parts that remain are the negative ones. Therefore, if you continue to think of what you want to get rid of, it will keep getting bigger and bigger until you believe what you are thinking of yourself is true.

That’s how the process of creating an internal belief works, and that’s exactly why you are having a bad time even though we know our thoughts aren’t real. Because it has become a belief itself. Something that from that point and on you will take for granted.

So, how can we stop our false beliefs from tormenting us?

If we want to eliminate something from our brain, we have to replace it with something else, so a very powerful way to do that is going deep into that false belief and seeing the opposite side of it. What is the good side of that belief you have installed in your mind? When you identify it, now it’s time to make the swap and this will only be accomplished by practice and consistency. False beliefs are very hard to uninstall, so the way you can do that is to remind and tell yourself daily about that new belief you want to put in place.

Remind yourself that you deserve love, that you deserve wealth, that you deserve a meaningful relationship, that you deserve health. All that repetition of affirmations will help you make the change and start to win the battle against your thoughts.

But why is identifying with my mind so bad? Isn’t there to help me?

Well, as I said, the mind is naturally used to grabbing only the negative things of everything. So, understanding the following will make the whole difference for you:

You are not your thoughts; you are the observer of them.

Just having this concept acknowledged, will help you immensely to take again the control of yourself. You’ll stop listening to what your thoughts have to say about you, and the voice of your conscious will start to speak, and you will be able to hear it. That’s when the ideas will get clearer, the mind will get cleaner, and you will be able to make wiser decisions.

Remember: every scenario that gets created in your mind is so much bigger than it is in real life. Nothing will happen exactly as you imagined. Let things flow. You’ll see that’s more beautiful than already knowing how things will precisely play out.

Why do negative thoughts get created in the first place?

I used to ask myself this question and after a long time, I can say I have an answer for that. The reason negative thoughts are created is that we are not living in the present moment. We are identifying ourselves from who we were in the past or who we will be in the future.

The important thing to know here is that none of those two scenarios are real. The past is long gone, and the future is a fantasy. The only authentic moment is at this time that you are reading these words.

You’ll see that when you are truly focused on what’s happening right now, your mind will see clarity into what’s important to think too. When you are having a truly good time with your friends, are thinking about that problem you couldn’t solve with that person? When you are watching the new Spider-Man movie, do you throw away all that joy because you need to figure out how you will make money by writing an article?

You’ll see, the best memories we have are when we were present in the moment. When we were convinced that the most important thing in the world was to enjoy that instant. So why not decide to create even greater memories and start living for the moment?

Stop living in the past and the future.

Stop saying to yourself you are those thoughts.

Let’s change your life for the better. You can do it!

advice
Like

About the Creator

Reader insights

Be the first to share your insights about this piece.

How does it work?

Add your insights

Comments

There are no comments for this story

Be the first to respond and start the conversation.

Sign in to comment

    Find us on social media

    Miscellaneous links

    • Explore
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Use
    • Support

    © 2024 Creatd, Inc. All Rights Reserved.