A couple of weeks back I was walking round my current fishing lake, deciding where I wanted to fish and came across another angler.
We chatted for a few minutes and he then said:
“Do you want a cup of tea?”
“Do bears poop in the woods?” I replied!
So, he boiled the kettle and we enjoyed a freshly brewed cuppa, which went down a treat as we put the world to rights.
I was reflecting on this and a memory came to mind.
It was just before Christmas 1986 and we got a call that my nan was taken ill and was in Lewisham hospital. My mum, two sisters and I rushed over to see her and found her lying in her hospital bed, looking very poorly.
I will always remember the first thing she said though…
“Do you want a cup of tea John?”
Nan’s are great, aren’t they? Always thinking of you. I will never forget that day because just a couple of hours later she sadly passed away.
Have you seen the film ‘Shaun of the dead’? Zombies are everywhere, so what does Shaun suggest?
“We grab Mum, we go over to Liz’s place, hole up, have a cup of tea and wait for this whole thing to blow over.”
A cup of tea solves everything! Nice and simple.
It occurred to me that the three principles understanding is like a cup of tea for the mind.
There is only ever one problem in life… we forget what is true.
Just recently I found myself in an agitated state of mind. I wrestled with my thinking. Tried to stop it. Intellectually rationalised it.
But all to no avail.
Apart from having a few cups of tea (obviously!) what really helped was remembering.
I just remembered that my feelings always follow my thought.
The way I was feeling had nothing to do with my circumstances. I was just revving up my mind and the faster my thought went the worse I felt.
I fell into the trap of trying to control my thoughts. But we don’t need to do this.
The mind is self-correcting.
As soon as we remember that our mind only works one way our thinking settles, we come back into the present and feel better.
Nice and simple.
No techniques. No pep talks. No self-help books.
Just remembering.