Unhappy – miserable
Miserable – discomfort
Discomfort – unease
Unease – anxious
Anxious – worried
Worried – troubled
Troubled – bothered
Bothered – irritated
Irritated – annoyed
Annoyed – distressed
Distressed – unhappy

This is how easy it is for the mind to trap itself inside a loop of definitions and labels; apparent logical reasoning and justification, created by thoughts – and of course thoughts are only words!

There are thousands more words like the above; I simply chose to stop looking. The link for all the above words is that they are all resistance. In every case the words (or thoughts which can convert into feelings) amount to the exact same thing – resisting reality; denying what is, in the present moment.

Is it that simple? No from the point of being buried in the complexity of thought; that is, when thinking without awareness of the impact of thinking. And yes from the point of conscious realization of the process, from which you can detach, watch what is happening and choose to drop the resistance.

The difference then, is simply the conscious realization of the resistance of reality; noting the creation of unhappiness within, through the words or thoughts you are selecting, following, dwelling on and attaching to.

If unhappiness is resistance of reality – what is reality? Reality is the present moment, right now; so unhappiness is resistance of the moment in the moment. Even if you resist a past or future moment, memory or projection, you can still only resist it now.

The next time you feel unhappy, notice, and investigate what it is that you are resisting. You might be choosing to resist letting go of a past that has already gone or resisting a future that has not arrived or resisting the present moment right this minute. If you can do something now to help drop the resistance do it, if you can’t do something right now let go and wait until you can. The alternative is to stay trapped in a circle of thought like the example above. Essentially trapped in words that you choose to believe, and focus on.

Try practicing surrender; give in, give up, let go, start afresh; reboot your thoughts.

Beyond the sky space goes on for millions and millions of miles without end. When you feel trapped in thought contemplate the infinity of the universe. (See also Meditate on the Universe)

Once you surrender to the moment you can begin to see it as temporary even though your mind and thoughts can tend to convince you it is permanent or inescapable. Here are some associated quotes:

“If I can do something about it, it makes no sense to worry about it. If I can’t do something about it, it makes no sense to worry about it” ~ Wayne Dyer

“There is only one cause of unhappiness: the false beliefs you have in your head, beliefs so widespread, so commonly held, that it never occurs to you to question them” ~ Anthony de Mello

“You cannot be unhappy without an unhappy story” ~ Eckhart Tolle

“It is not possible to attain happiness without non-attachment” – Paramahansa Yogananda

“A thought is harmless unless we believe it. It’s not our thoughts, but attachment to our thoughts, that causes suffering” ~ Byron Katie

See also: Why attach to a thought Mind Map

We know the planet, being round, can hide things out of sight temporarily.

We know mirrors can cause incredible distortions.

Imagine billions of them reflecting.

We know the power of illusion on our mind and eye of a single cube even when drawn on paper.

Imagine billions of them overlapping.

We know light can reflect to create the illusion of invisibility; a temporary blinding effect.

Imagine billions of them beaming.

We know shapes can twist and turn out of sight yet still exist.

Imagine billions of them.

Imagine all of these things and more happening simultaneously; mirrors reflecting light, cubes distorting and shapes twisting and overlapping.

What if the entire universe is billions of circles revolving in and out of view like cogs all turning at different times and creating billions of illusions? Ever-changing illusions viewed from different standpoints.

What if all these conditions and perhaps many more were to combine to create one big illusion we call the universe?

Now imagine billions of them!

Suddenly our “problems” seem quite small

Imagine you spent a day noting your thoughts and recording them into categories – I wonder what the results might be?

Repetitive thoughts, replays, memories of specific events in your life, past, present or future, hobbies, your job, people, yourself, specific subjects, random ideas, comedy, fun; thousands of possibilities.

If you noted down on paper your thoughts into categories, I wonder what the results might be. What would your top categories be?

Next up of course analysis; asking what you focus your thinking time on and why.

You might create a mindmap or pie chart or graph to hone in on your thinking time and focus areas.

If your categories where similar you might group some of them to ascertain the type of thinking and assess the reasons for “where” you think as well as “what” you think. In which areas do you think and why?

Might it be possible to create a top 10, top 5 or top 3 areas in which you spend your time thinking?

Record keeping might be tricky; perhaps have boxes and as soon as you become aware of what you are thinking about count it.

If the physical recording is impractical at least it will get you thinking about what you are thinking about, why you are thinking about it and where you allocate your thinking time.

What am I thinking?

Why am I thinking it?

How is it helping me or others?

After creating a top 10, top 5 and top 3 what might your No.1 category be?

In your thought charts how might you promote what you really wish to think about to your No.1 position?

With your eyes shut imagine a gun shot. What has happened? Someone shot, someone engaged in target practice, the start of a race, an animal killed, a car backfiring, an accidental shot, a real life gun shot, or one on television or radio, or did you imagine it now the sound has faded? What followed the noise – commotion or silence? Who created the noise, where did it come from and why? Endless questions with the eyes shut and if you were blind you may well have to trust someone else’s interpretation. With fewer filters perhaps facts emerge quicker in the sightless once the information is heard. Perhaps the blind have to ask more questions?

So what does Stevie Wonder see? Here are some of the ways in which I feel Stevie Wonder sees and often I feel he sees more than most.

Stevie Wonder sees how music soothes the soul and joins the human race.
Stevie Wonder sees how war often fails and the beauty and sense of peace.
Stevie Wonder sees the joy of gratitude, be it sun on the face or water on the skin.
Stevie Wonder sees textures and shapes and the wonder of the other senses from touch through to hearing.
Stevie Wonder senses the vibes of happiness and harmony.
Stevie Wonder sees the freedom and affluence in the richness of the present moment; the grounding in the now.
Stevie Wonder sees how it is impossible to be alone on a planet with 7 billion people.
Stevie Wonder sees how happiness and beauty come from within.
Stevie Wonder sees the joy of positive communication.
Stevie Wonder sees the nature of impermanence and the coming and going of all things.
Stevie Wonder sees unity through both dependence and independence.
Stevie Wonder sees the power of imagination, of fantasy and of dreams.
Stevie Wonder sees how to express unique talents despite limitations.
Stevie Wonder sees that we can all see like he, simply by closing our eyes.

These are just some of the ways I feel Stevie Wonder sees – there are hundreds more to explore. Give it a try during your day – close your eyes and “see”. See what you can see through sightless observation.

Open air car parks of the future could have solar panelled roofs to help keep cars cool, whilst collecting the energy of the sun. For new and existing buildings roof combinations such as lean to designs and adjacent car ports could trap the rays of the sun.

Mechanical rotating solar panel units could slowly turn to utilize the direction of the sun and make greater use of smaller spaces. Rotating roof designs may provide unique building potential.

Skyscrapers could have open garden roof areas surrounded by large solar panel fencing – combining a relaxing space, encouraging nature and reducing pollution gases.

Different shapes may introduce new possibilities; ‘V’ shaped designs, curved or bowl shapes, ovals, boxes, cubes and rectangles. New ways to reflect and or trap the rays of the sun.

Shade shelters could provide a double function in public places, parks, fields and woods. Solar tunnels could provide car shelter in towns with solar capture and extraction methods to reduce or use the pollution of vehicles in covered areas.

What other ways might we evolve solar panel potential?

See also:

If I had a Desert Mind Map
How might our buildings combine with nature Mind Map

Who would you spend your last day with?

What would you do?

Where would you do it?

Why would you do it?

What can you do in 24 hours?

Here are some questions to help you contemplate what you might do on your last day and to help you remember how fortunate you are to wake up every day. If the thought of your last day upsets you, imagine you are in an episode of Dr.Who with an opportunity to leave in the Tardis. In your last 24 hours before leaving what would you do?

Would you check your emails or post?
Text or phone a friend?
Visit your favourite place?
Eat your favourite meal?
Listen to your favourite piece of music?
Watch your favourite film?
Would you join a telephone queue to see if you make it to position 1?
Would you catch a bus on an all-day ticket?
Shop ‘till you drop?
Spend the day giving away everything you own?
Start a huge jigsaw puzzle and see if you could finish it?
Would you read a book (or books) that you’ve been meaning to read?
Tidy your room and brush your teeth?
Pack your suitcase in case you return?
Watch the time and finally understand impermanence?
Prune your body to look your “best”?
Would you let go, forgive, and stop worrying?
Would you be more polite, understanding and patient of others?
Would you let someone else go first in the queue?
Would you reflect on your past or cram all you can into your present moments?

Here is a further consideration:

An idea known as Dead at Midnight, extracted from the book A Better Way to Live by Og Mandino

“Simply imagine that every person you meet will be dead at Midnight, but they don’t know it – only you do. It makes a colossal difference to the way you treat people and have time for them.”

What else might you do in your last day?

As you may have noticed, this Mind Map summarises the rules it does not follow them.

Start from the centre

For more comprehensive info

Use single word prompts

Use colour and pictures

Use an appropriate central picture

Curve your branches

Connect your main branches

FREE 85 Page E-Book at http://www.mindmapinspiration.co.uk/

Stop Thinking How to reduce your thinking to help create quality ideas

If you have ever heard of tapping the Gap or reducing your thoughts to help create better quality thinking and wondered How? this E-Book is for you; and better still its FREE

The E-Book represents a collection of previously released articles, Mind Maps and Blog Posts that I have now gathered together for convenience as a FREE resource to assist you in your creativity, idea generation and mindmapping.

There are links back from the PDF Document to Blog Posts where appropriate so you can also link to articles, bookmark them or download specific Mind Map images in JPEG format.

Contents:

Meditation Mind Map
How to Meditate
Breathing Properly Mind Map
T3 – Time to Think Mind Map & Explanation
Dealing with a Negative Thought Mind Map
Use Thinking Don’t Let it Use You
Thinking Outside the Box Mind Map
Brain Functions Mind Map
Why I use Mind Maps
Enhancing Creativity through Thought Reduction
The Gap Mind Map
Stop Thinking Mind Map
Thoughts Mind Map
Taming Your Gremlin Mind Map
Rushing Mind Map
Present Moment Awareness

If you wish to learn more about tapping the gap using the above methods grab a copy of my FREE 85 Page Stop Thinking E-Book at http://www.mindmapinspiration.co.uk/