Your Thoughts Are Lying to You (And That’s Hilarious) Post
Chandra Eden, The True Me Yogi
Loving What Is: Four Questions That Will Change Your Life
Author: Byron Katie
"A thought is harmless unless we believe it. It's not our thoughts, but the attachment to our thoughts that causes suffering. Attaching to a thought means believing that it's true without inquiring. A belief is a thought that we've been attaching to, often for years.
Most people think that they are what their thoughts tell them they are. One day I noticed that I wasn't breathing - I was being breathed. Then I also noticed to my amazement that I wasn't thinking - that I was actually being thought, and that thinking isn't personal.
Do you wake up in the morning and say to yourself, I think I won't think today, it's too late, you're already thinking. Thoughts just appear. They come out of nothing and go back to nothing. Like clouds moving across the empty sky. They come to pass, not to stay. There is no harm in them until we attach to them as if they were true.
No one has ever been able to control his thinking, although people may tell the story of how they have. I don't let go of my thoughts. I meet them with understanding, then they let go of me."
Your Thoughts Are Lying to You (And That's Hilarious)
Let’s talk about your thoughts. You know, those little voices in your head that narrate your life like a bad reality TV show? The ones that tell you, “You’re not good enough,” “You should’ve said something smarter in that meeting,” or “You definitely left the stove on.” Yeah, those. Turns out, they’re not the boss of you. In fact, they’re not even you. Mind-blowing, right?
Here’s the deal: thoughts are like that one friend who shows up unannounced, eats all your snacks, and then leaves without cleaning up. They just appear. You don’t summon them, you don’t schedule them, and you definitely don’t control them. They’re like clouds drifting across the sky—except instead of being fluffy and serene, they’re often full of existential dread and self-doubt.
The excerpt we’re diving into today makes a bold claim: thoughts are harmless unless you believe them. Let that sink in. It’s not the thought itself that causes suffering; it’s your attachment to it. It’s like seeing a random cloud in the sky and deciding, “That cloud is my entire identity now.” Ridiculous, right? But that’s exactly what we do when we latch onto thoughts and treat them as gospel truth.
Here’s where it gets trippy. The author of this excerpt had a revelation: you’re not the one doing the thinking. Thinking is just… happening. Like breathing. You don’t wake up in the morning and say, “I think I’ll breathe today.” (If you do, please see a doctor.) Breathing happens automatically, and so does thinking. You’re not the CEO of your thoughts; you’re more like the intern who watches them roll in and wonders what the heck is going on.
This idea—that you’re being thought—is both liberating and hilarious. It means you’re not responsible for the random nonsense that pops into your head. That weird thought about what your dog would look like in a tuxedo? Not your fault. The sudden urge to Google “how to survive a bear attack” even though you live in a city? Not your fault. Thinking isn’t personal. It’s just a thing that happens, like weather or TikTok trends.
Here’s where we get to the juicy part: a thought only has power if you believe it. It’s like a spam email. If you ignore it, it’s harmless. But if you click on it, suddenly you’re buying sketchy weight-loss pills and wondering why your bank account is empty. Attaching to a thought is like clicking on the spam email of your mind. You’re giving it power it doesn’t deserve.
For example, let’s say you have the thought, “I’m a failure.” If you treat it like a passing cloud, it drifts away. But if you grab onto it and start building a whole narrative around it—“I failed that test in 7th grade, and I’ll probably fail at life too”—then you’re in trouble. That’s the difference between a harmless thought and a full-blown belief. A belief is just a thought you’ve been clinging to for so long, it’s practically moved in and started paying rent.
Now, some people will tell you they’ve mastered the art of controlling their thoughts. These people are either lying or delusional. No one controls their thoughts. You can’t sit there and say, “I’m only going to think happy, productive thoughts today,” because five minutes later, you’ll be wondering if penguins have knees or replaying that embarrassing thing you said in 2012.
The author of this excerpt doesn’t try to control their thoughts. Instead, they meet them with understanding. Imagine your thoughts are like toddlers throwing tantrums. You don’t wrestle them to the ground or scream back at them (well, hopefully not). You acknowledge them, maybe give them a snack, and let them tire themselves out. Eventually, they let go of you.
Here’s the mic-drop moment: thoughts come to pass, not to stay. They’re not permanent. They’re not facts. They’re just visitors passing through your mental Airbnb. Some are delightful, like the thought of pizza. Others are annoying, like the thought of that awkward thing you said at a party. But none of them are here forever.
The trick is to stop treating your thoughts like they’re carved in stone. They’re more like graffiti on a bathroom wall—random, fleeting, and often nonsensical. You don’t have to believe them. You don’t have to attach to them. You can just let them float by, like clouds in the sky or that one weird uncle at family gatherings.
So, What’s the Takeaway?
Your thoughts are not you. They’re just mental weather.
You don’t control your thoughts. They show up uninvited, like raccoons in your trash.
A thought only has power if you believe it. Don’t click on the spam email of your mind.
Meet your thoughts with understanding. Don’t wrestle them; just let them pass.
The next time your brain starts throwing out unhelpful thoughts, remember: you’re not obligated to believe them. You’re not even obligated to take them seriously. Just sit back, watch the mental circus, and maybe laugh at the absurdity of it all. After all, if you can’t control your thoughts, you might as well enjoy the show.