How do i become a skeptic

[daniel695]

hi guys,

my name is Daniel and i tend to just believe my mind with what ever it tells me. this then creates an emotional reaction. they tend to be fearful thoughts or create fearful emotions.the thoughts imply....if i don't do this then something bad will happen to me. an example would be lets say i'm at mcdonalds and i just finished my order and the lady gives my change back. now that i have the change a thought might pop up if you don't donate then you will go broke....and i automatically believe it and just assume its true and it creates emotional reaction out of me. this can happen multiple times a couple minutes.

 

so how do i stop believing my mind and become a skeptic until its automatic i question things my mind tells me.

[Jamie Universe]

I feel your pain.

Fear doesn't really listen to logic sadly, at least my brain will jump to random conclusions and then soon after you'll realize your wrong, but fear is a bitch.

I stopped having these most of the time because I did affirmations for those fears (I was scared socially). Leo has good videos on affirmations if you wanna check them out.

Otherwise mindfulness is your long term solution 

[Leo Gura]

Contemplate

[Shadowraix]

Its like breaking a bad habit.

The more you give into fear, the more it is likely going to happen.

A lot of our behavior you can track down to being very pattern based.

Meditation is a very good tool at learning how to watch your own mind. What you're looking for initially is to not eliminate the fear, but be able to interject between the emotion and response to the emotion. Learning to watch the mind and not respond to every little thing it does can allow for such interjection.

Once you stop responding to the response, not doing so will get easier. Your fear is ultimately because you are attached and grasping onto things. Fear is very manipulative for as long as you keep grasping onto them.

 

[aurum]

@daniel695

It's not going to happen over night. Likely what is going to happen is you're going to have to keep experiencing the ramifications of your misaligned thoughts until you just KNOW that it's bullshit.

The good news though is that change really is possible. You just have to put in the work.

Some sort of mindfulness practice will also help here, whether it's meditation or yoga or whatever. That will create some space between you and your thoughts.

[daniel695]

thank you everyone

[Misagh]

The nature of the mind is thought. Without thought there is no mind. You say "i" believe in "my" mind. The "I" is a thought itself, so what is happening right there is the "I" identifying with another thought (whatever it might be, fear, hate, etc etc). What YOU really are is an eternal, untouchable witness to all these thoughts. You CANNOT be manipulated to begin with. To demonstrate this, ask yourself "For whom has this thought arisen?" every time you notice a thought emerge within you. You will answer without fail: "For me." Then ask yourself "Who Am I?" At the moment you ask this question, you are grounded in the Self (the true YOU). Let go of the "I" as easily as you let go of the original thought, and you are enlightenment. 

Edited September 7, 2018 by Misagh