Why do I call false thoughts false, why do I consider them not true? What is important is to understand that these are lies, that they are not true thoughts, because when we really experience them as a lie, those black thoughts that are imposed on us no longer have any meaning. We all just fear those thoughts, that’s how we give them attention and that’s how they persist. I couldn’t believe what they did to my life, how much anxiety pressed me, pushed me, made chaos out of my life.
I struggled so much with anxiety attacks, with all the possible thoughts that threw me to the bottom. I couldn’t get up anymore, and when I got up I would fall down again. I often felt as if I was on the verge of madness, which was one of the most terrifying symptoms for me. The fear of madness is a very unpleasant feeling, a very unpleasant thought that is a lie, but it worked very, very, very hard for me. I almost developed a phobia from the very word insanity. When I realized what those false thoughts were, I called them that and every time such a thought appeared, I said, “Here is such a thought, here is a lying pattern.” It’s not me.” I kept saying this while practicing and I created the image that it’s not me, it’s a liar. It’s some little negative thing that lies to me and makes a fool of me. That started to go away when I realized how actually reinforcing those thoughts works.
When I quit smoking for the first time, I realized that struggling not to light a cigarette is very similar to struggling with thoughts. It’s like it’s from the same point in the head. It’s not even a coincidence that most people who take antidepressants quit smoking. Also, ziban is an antidepressant that ended up being better for quitting smoking than for depression. I want to say how much willpower is actually required to overcome anxiety. All of you who have quit smoking and have anxiety, know that the same way should be applied to quit both. Negative thoughts tried a hundred times to convince me that I am bad, that I am not important, that I have no control over my own life. These are the thoughts that robbed me of my confidence, made me miserable and smaller than a poppy seed. They created various phobias and fears for me. I spasmed many times, that spasm created a thought that had to be released somewhere. How many times have I developed anything and everything for myself because of the starting position of my thoughts, so I withdraw, I hide from people because I don’t want anyone to see me like that. All these false thoughts led me to severe anxiety and the onset of depression. They took away my breath, will, desire, power. They ruined me so much, I thought so much that I was bad, that I was not worth many things. I underestimated myself, I couldn’t believe that a man who could do almost anything, now couldn’t deal with his thoughts. That was incredible to me. Then I’m a weaening, I lowered my self-confidence so much that it was unbelievable. People asked me on the street if I was okay, what happened, why I lost weight. I wanted to kill them as much as it annoyed me.
I realized that as long as we believe those liars, they will destroy us very subtly. So it will take away part of our life until we fall into depression. Lying thoughts exist for one reason only – because we give them attention. The moment we don’t pay attention to them, they disappear. Actually, they just pass through us, like the thought “What if I drink some water?” Imagine if that thought occurred to you. It passed, and you didn’t even flinch. It disappeared instantly. Then comes the thought, “What if I go crazy?” That’s where the problem arises because we believe and identify with those thoughts and that’s why we’re afraid. That is the core of the problem.
The point is to break through those thoughts and expose them. When we reveal that this thought is the same as “What if I drink a glass of water?”, we will stop being afraid, and they will disappear. With time and practice, you will all stop fearing those lying thoughts. The key step to overcoming this is to ignore those thoughts. When we neglect them, we rob them of their power and strength. Let those thoughts pass through us like, What if I drink a glass of water?”, let it shake you, let it work, nothing will happen. It is the same thought as,,What if I drink a glass of water?”. In this way, we take away its strength. Thoughts that get stuck in our mind, so we start brainstorming, looking for symptoms, questioning ourselves, expanding our thoughts, reading on Google are reflected and persist because of our fear and unconsciousness. We are afraid of going crazy, the thought has passed us by, and due to our ignorance, we cling to it as if it were real. So, we have to realize that it is not real. In order to trigger the situation, to bring it to a conscious act, we can ask ourselves some questions at that moment. The point is that these questions take us to the present moment, which will bring us back to reality.
We can ask that thought: “Who are you?” and think about what that thought is. We can ask, “Why are you lying to me?” and then we are above it, it instantly loses its strength and disappears because it is a liar. The third question we can ask: “Did the past or the future send you?” In this question, we change the focus and start looking for whether it flew in from the past or if it is afraid of the future. When we change our focus, we cut off that thought and it stops. Of course, we have to do it consciously and truly believe that it is so. Lying thoughts live by lying to us.
