The Chattering Monkey or The Silent Monk

There are times in our lives, when we are so busy thinking, that it actually stops us from being in action towards the dreams that we have created in our imagination.

So how do we know whether the creative sparks in our imagination will truly manifest new realities or remain dreamscapes, twirling around our brains with no possibility of getting out of our heads?

Well, when you reach the point when you are having fine conversations in your head about everything that you do, the point when you reach analysis/paralysis, where your thinking interferes with not only your waking state but also your dream state... so that you go into analyzing your dreams while you are dreaming (I actually did reach that point), it is time to stop the chatter and just get on with the business of "doing what you said you would do by when you said you would do it"*, regardless of whether you want to or not!

I have been in such a situation.

At that point in my life, the thoughts of insanity, asylum and schizophrenia resonated loudly in my mind and they felt like wonderfully appealing invitations for me to go and just sit, relax my mind and think of nothing. It was an extremely difficult period to endure, simply because the thoughts were truly so loud, I was having conversations with myself constantly and I became totally detached from reality, but still had to operate as a "normal" person.

Life became a series of "accidents" and unpleasant incidents, which I was fully aware of creating, as I busily analyzed every speck of experience that happened to me. I was even watching myself, watching me analyzing the fact that I could not get out of "living in my head". It was stifling in my head and the busyness was exhausting me!

So how did I get out of my prison of thoughts?

I remember waking up that morning and thinking... SILENCE... ALL I WANT IS SILENCE. I clearly saw two images, the one of a chattering monkey and the other of a silent monk and I said to my Self forcefully ... "I choose the Silent Mind". I huge smile seemed to fill me, coming from deep inside enveloped in a deep and profound sense of peace... stillness and quiet waters.

And that evening, the key which opened my prison cell came, in the form of a single word, itself in the form of a question.

Ironically it was a one word question that got me into such a state in the first place and then kept me bound in the chains of thought, that almost sent me to the asylum and this was the question "Why"? A question we are advised not to ask as a Consciousness Coach (R). Why? Because.... because bla bla bla bla bla.... there is instantly a stream of words that follow the "because" in answer to any question beginning with "why", which Consciousness Coaching refers to as "story". Being in story, ensures that you cannot be in action... you're too busy telling the story!

So that evening as I was at home, relaxing... or so I thought, a friend of mine came around. After catching up for about 15 minutes, sharing what was happening in our respective lives, she suddenly stopped talking and stared at me with a slightly puzzled look on her face.

I said, "What?...

She said "How?"

"....???" There was a moment of utter silence from both of us, both looking very puzzled.

My friend then said "The question is "HOW?" not "WHY?"!

Suddenly, I was free! In my head, there was a moment of dead silence, then a "What do you mean "how"?

The question that got me out of my head and into action was "How?" In an instant I was free from months of self-inflicted torture and given the freedom to act and become once again master of my destiny, when I replaced the "why" with the "how" and fully grasping why we do not ask "Why?".

And that was it... The Silent Monk gently entered my life to stop the ceaseless Chattering Monkey and I was free at last, to manifest the thoughts into my reality as a coach, trainer and facilitator providing opportunities for teenagers to grow themselves into the best people they could possibly be... one step closer each day!

Who do you choose to be when your conversations become endless?

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*CCI Definition of Integrity by Marc Steinberg

Article first published on Head Start PBS