What if the following thoughts or beliefs are not always true?

I have to work hard to succeed.
I should be getting more done.
There’s a right way to do this.
I need people to like me.
When other people like me, it means I am smart, talented, funny, worthy, attractive.
My kid is failing; I must have gone wrong somewhere.
I need to keep my kids happy & safe.
I don’t measure up.
I can’t ask for help.
Making money and looking good is more important than feeling good.
This will never end.
I will waste my time & education if I…quit this job that sucks the life out of me…stay home with my kids…switch careers.
When I…lose weight…get married…have money…have kids…leave spouse…get rid of kids…life will be good.
I can’t…I have to…I should…I shouldn’t…

How would you feel if it was impossible to even think those thoughts?

And what if the following are true?

There is no test to pass, no race to win.
The problems that have stumped me will one day bring joy.
I am exactly where I am supposed to be, doing exactly what I am supposed to be doing.
My kid will learn when he learns.
My kid needs this experience.
There is more than enough to go around.
I am guided; I cannot fail, and the best is yet to come.
I need me to like me.
It’s temporary.
There is something perfect about this.
Even the hard truth is something I can handle.
Accepting the present moment is where my power and peace are.

How would you feel?

Yeah, me too.

“It is the truth that offers us this freedom…At that point, we will have dismantled the biggest lie, the most profound denial of all: the denial of our own inestimable power and value.” –Martha Beck in The Joy Diet

Photo by Geoff Captain