Day 64 – 🐒 Filter #3: Kindness

We're looking at our thinking minds, and have so far applied 2 filters to our thoughts: 1) is it necessary; and, 2) is it true? Today we add a third, in many ways the most important one: is it kind?

Because we've gotten quite familiar with the nature of our thinking mind, we're going to go deep and apply our kindness directly to where it's needed most – to our emotional reactions (feeling sad, anxious, mad, etc.), and for now, particularly to the thoughts that come out of them.

🎉 This is a big step in the exploration of our minds. We're diving under the surface, into parts of ourselves that we're not meant to see, let alone change! 🎉

Our unchecked assumptions about ourselves and the world live down here – our core beliefs. These are rock-solid, implicitly-believed thoughts which are protectively wrapped around some deep hurt (core reactions).

As a way to uncover our core beliefs, we're going to observe the nature and content of our thoughts when we're in emotionally reactive situations. The more volatile and regularly a particular reaction occurs, the more likely it is that we've hit a sensitive nerve – a core belief being triggered. As you get more familiar with the ongoing content of your reactive thoughts, you'll start to notice themes that will point you towards your core beliefs.

PRACTICE

What thoughts do you have when you're in the middle of reacting (e.g. stressed, anxious, despairing, etc.)? Be on the lookout for absolutes (e.g. "I/they should...", or "They're like this...I'm like this..."). Just listen to your thoughts, you don't have to do anything else.