There are a lot of opinions about but have you noticed how you feel when someone expresses one different to yours? Angry, upset or superior? I notice this in myself often. It can look like the feeling we have is coming from that other person and their opinion but the words of another person cannot do that, E-V-E-R! When we feel that feeling, we are feeling our thinking about the opinion.

That person is saying what makes sense to them which comes from their thinking and is unique to them. We have unique thinking too and do not see things the same. But your feeling is the guide. Off feeling = off thinking (yours not theirs). When we start to see this, we can have a different relationship with people and their opinions and there is more ease, calm and clarity.

You are the canvas not the paint is a  beautiful metaphor which explains so much. The canvas is white, clean and pure. It almost seems to emit light just like the light that we are. Then the paint is applied and a picture is created. That can be full of joy and happiness or could be dark and horrifying. But no matter what is painted, the canvas remains in tact underneath. 

If we don't like the painting, we might try to cover it up by adding glitter and sparkly gems but in trying to regain the light of the canvas, we actually add more layers. The paint is thought! The glitter and sparkly gems are the thoughts about thought. It's all thought but the canvas is who we really are underneath all that. It is always there and when we see that, there is relief and as the layers of paint melt away we connect to calm once more.

There seems to be a lot of fear about right now. When we say, "I am afraid of ...", it looks so real and once that fear is in place it looks like there are things to do. Actions to take in the present moment to stop the fearful thing happening. But fear is a thief. It's a thief of the present moment, joy and gratitude. What there is right now is the only truth but when we we are stuck in our fearful thinking we are missing out on what is. We are missing out on the thing we are fearing loosing in the future. 

Fearful thinking is no different to any other thinking and when we start to take it less seriously we find that calm and clarity are always available.

There's a difference between revealing and adding wellbeing which is clear when you take a moment to think about it. Here's a helpful metaphor. Your car windscreen is clear and lets in light and when is gets dirty, you clean it then it lets in light again. The clarity of the glass and its ability to let in light never goes away.

Imagine if we didn't remember that. We might try to bring the windscreen back to clarity by adding. Maybe another layer of glass, some shiny paper or some sparkly glitter. Whilst trying to get the sparkle back it would be getting further and further away.

Can you see how that is for us? We are born whole and well and we develop a sense of self made of thought. Then we want to change that self (thought) so we add and add and add ... and get further away from wellbeing.

All the resilience, confidence, calm, clarity and wisdom you ever need is inside you and always has been. It is only ever thought which stops you seeing that.

The search for relief is always hiding the truth but that search is so persuasive isn't it? It's a human mission when we don't like how we feel seek relief. Some forms of relief are see as acceptable, like yoga, meditation and massage. Other forms of relief are not seen in such a positive light. Like alcohol, drugs and smoking. But they are all the same really. They are all an example of us trying to control our inner state with an outside strategy. They all come from innocent confusion about where our feelings come from.

But the thing is they take us further away from seeing the truth. We are perfect, whole and well but thought comes in and hides that. Then we feel thought and try to change that. Can you see the layers of thought adding to the barrier which prevents us from seeing the truth; that we are perfect, whole and well. Ironic really! But when we start to see it, the whole fantasy starts to unravel.

There's no way to stop feelings coming in even though it can look like there is. It looks like you can use tools and techniques, resolve the past or   transcend the human experience. But that's not true and the impact of all that trying is actually to stop us seeing the truth. Because the truth is that every bit of calm and clarity you are seeking is already there inside you! It's the noise of all those things you are trying which is stopping you seeing that.

TRUTH - humans feel every type of feeling. Always have done, always will. FALSE - you can stop that happening. Never have been able to, never will. And whilst you are trying to stop feelings, you are adding thinking and doing and going further and further away from calm. Once you become deeply aware of this, you will see the difference it makes.

Sometimes it looks like we have to do it all now and that creates an overwhelmed feeling. But here's how thought is the true source of that overwhelmed feeling. This week I have been creating a course but I have not created a course. No-one ever does actually. Let me explain.

I have recorded some videos and uploaded them. I have created a landing page and done some other tasks. Even they can be broken down into creative steps. The idea for a video, pressing record then word by word coming out of my mouth. Moment by moment it is all unfolding. Perfectly unfolding. Can you see the difference?

I am creating a course (looks huge) or I am taking the next step (looks possible) because it's not the task but how we perceive it which creates overwhelm.

I was plagued by perfectionism (I still am a bit really.). There's a sense of things I do needing to be perfect which can slow things down. I can stop me putting things out into the world. Maybe you can relate.

But there's a much bigger elephant in the room. The places where I think other people are doing it wrong; where other people are not perfect. I'll be honest, when I am in the thick of this state of mind, I want them all to do it my way! The I feel frustrated, angry and tend to rant! But then I realised that I am creating stress and my thinking is causing frustration that's not good for me. So it makes sense to stop.

There's a middle man involved sitting between what's out there and our experience of it. It really can look like our experience is pure. Something happens out there and we feel it inside us. That is the outside in paradigm and  living in this place makes us victims. It makes us want to control and it can be the slippery slope to burnout. 

Just remembering there is a middle man which is thought in the moment or perspective, can be helpful. It is always there, creating our experience unseen by us. But every time we remember the middle man and acknowledge their presence there is a falling back home; to calm, clarity and presence.

Have you noticed that you get over things every time. When you are in the thick of it you can forget really easily. It might be overwhelm, stress or that anxious feeling. When it's happening, forgetting that you get over it can make it worse. Because every single time, you reconnect to your inner wellbeing. That happens without fail. Your natural system is always taking you in that direction. You cannot stop it but you can get in the way a bit if you have forgotten. So maybe next time you are in the thick of it, just remembering that beautiful system working inside you might help.