Some Thoughts on Thoughts: Worry
Eckhart Tolle, in his book A New Earth, points the way to a renewal of spiritual consciousness. At the core of this renewal is a refocusing away from our self-absorbed ego toward our true selves in the Now, our Source Being. Tolle contends that our ego uses thoughts to feed itself, and it generates thoughts-for-thought-sake creating an endless feedback that, for the most part, we have little or no control, distracting us from our truest spiritual center. Continuing this unconscious cycle for decades can result in internalized dysfunctional anxiety that Tolle calls the “pain body”. www.eckharttolle.com
As I read A New Earth, I examined my own internal processes, and I concluded that clearly Tolle’s theory applied to me. I am, like most people, a compulsive thinker, too often an anxious thinker. I’ve seen first hand the dysfunction of obsessive worry in various people in my life. There is a lot of evidence in support of the potential of destructive thoughts. But if any reader were to apply Tolle’s theory in a purist manner, that is, with an absolute prohibition against all thought, is that reasonable? Is it even what Tolle intended? Is all thinking bad or harmful or dysfunctional? Obviously not. Certainly, not thinking at all is not a plausible option either. That would be the ultimate in dysfunction. Therefore, some thinking must be a good thing. What then is good thinking, and what is bad thinking?
As I tried to sort this out, I was encouraged to find examples of productive, useful thinking in my own life. Here’s one. I regularly pilot an airplane. As an aviator, I must give quite a lot of consideration to safety. That means that I learned and adhere to a rigorous set of procedures and practices that assure a reasonable degree of safety while in flight. Prior to any flight it’s a good idea to calmly and closely examine the airplane’s tail to be as certain as I can that it is well attached and in working order. Consequently, before every flight I have a conscious thought to examine the tail of the airplane. In fact, I use a rather lengthy checklist to assure that I examine and check all essential working components that determine the airworthiness of the airplane. This practice allows me to focus on the “Now” of flying while I am flying.
Now, that’s very productive, useful thinking, don’t you agree?
But let us say that I complete my pre-flight checklist, start the airplane’s engine, taxi to the runway, get my clearance, and I depart the airport. As I’m cruising along at 9,000 feet above terra firma, I begin to wonder just what it would be like if the tail suddenly fell off. I try to imagine the resulting sounds and the shutter of the airplane. I try to visualize how the airplane might tumble end over end, and how I might thrash around in the cockpit. I try to imagine how I might panic, hyperventilate, and scream out. I try to feel the emotions of utter fear and desperation. And I try to imagine my last thoughts just before impacting the ground. I wonder exactly what injuries I would sustain and the cause of my death. I might even try to visualize my body in the wreckage.
Now, unless I’m writing a horror story, this is definitely useless, non-productive thinking.
Although pilots regularly anticipate and practice for malfunctions and emergency situations, it serves absolutely no useful purpose to try to imagine, visualize, and feel the terrifying details of a hopeless catastrophic tragedy. It’s especially useless while piloting the airplane. Engaging in this kind of thinking would be not only distracting to a pilot while in flight, it would clearly serve no useful purpose in assuring a safe flight. It might even create a hazard.
Sensible, knowledgeable precaution is very useful thinking. But worry, especially in wraparound screen, Technicolor, and stereo sound is a clear example of useless thought. It is the ego creating its best diversion from being in the Now, in the present.
A good, useful thought might be to check your bank account balance from time to time, if only to make certain a bill was paid, or to assure you don’t overdraw your account. But a dysfunctional thought might be to visualize the complete tragic scenario following your discovery that someone stole your identity, bought himself or herself an island in Tahiti, emptied your account, and continued writing bad checks until you were put in jail.
A functional thought might be to check your tire pressure before you leave on a long drive on an extra hot day. A useless thought might be to imagine the gory details of a tire blowout resulting in a tragic accident with you being thrown out of the car, run over by an eighteen-wheeler, and your mangled body found in the ditch by your cousin, the paramedic.
A good thought might be to offer to help your neighbor trim the hedge on your shared property line. A bad thought might be to project onto your neighbor that he’s secretly an agent of the KGB, he’s trimming the hedge so the Russian spy satellite can keep a better eye on your private activities, and his daughter is trying to seduce your son into defecting.
It seems rather clear that there are productive, useful thoughts and there are dysfunctional, useless thoughts. Senseless, vividly embellished worry heads the list of some of the most useless thinking. It’s good for neither your mind nor your body. Tolle advises that it is one of the tools of the ego to keep us focused on itself distracting us from our true selves and our spiritual wellbeing.
I am reminded of Ceasar Millan’s (The Dog Whisperer. www.cesarmillaninc.com ) most repeated rule for dog owners: “Stay calm and assertive.” Dogs are very astute in picking up on our projected anxieties and uncertainties. They know when we are distracted and focused on our worries, and they react in kind. Ceasar’s simple mantra would serve all of us well, not only in training our dogs, but in our everyday consciousness.
Don’t worry. Be happy.
Chuck Jennings
Life Coach Chuck