Grounding Our Thoughts
What is grounding? How does one acquire and maintain it during our daily lives? Most people are familiar with the term "grounding" when dealing with electricity. We will use the simple example of a lightning rod. The lightning rod is attached to the house in order to safely direct the flow of electricity when struck by lightning. So it would be safe to say that to ground energy, in this case in the form of electricity, would be to safely direct the flow of energy.
When we think of a grounded life, we think of the people who can, no matter the storms in their lives, live a balanced and happy life. They appear to not suffer from depression or fits of anger; they are the foundations of their families, the bedrock, and the calm in the crisis. Some people do all this naturally with hardly any realization of what it is they are doing, but they have practiced this for lifetimes. The rest of us, however, have to apply conscious observation and introspection.
One universal fact is that energy will move, and it will always choose the path of least resistance when not guided. The metal and size of the lightning rod will attract that lightning bolt; it is the best conductor, the path of least resistance.
Many people are not aware that thoughts, intentions, desires, and emotions are all forms of energy. We are constantly receiving and transmitting these forms of energy all around us. Your thoughts and emotions are not private. They can't be - we are all one. People are just not aware of it.
Conscious observation means that you are aware and are monitoring the energy. For example; If I am employing conscious observation of my thoughts then when those transmitted thoughts I receive cross my mind I do not automatically accept them as my own. I am aware that not every thought that passes into my mind is from me and because of this awareness I am constantly evaluating every thought as it crosses my view. I can identify my thoughts because I know myself. Most thoughts are harmless and because we all are learning the same lessons most of the thoughts you receive can be closely matched to your own life so it does not seem out of place.
However there are those negative thoughts that find their way into our minds and many people suffer from self imposed guilt that such thoughts spring up. Just identify it as not your own and release it. If you choose to harbor the thoughts you then make them your own and then you begin to feed them, until they turn into something more. We charge them up with our energy and send them to our loved ones through our connections; so be aware of what you are putting energy into.
There is that word again; aware. Our goal is to reach a point where we can turn off our thoughts at will, to be able to seamlessly enter a state of meditation and awareness, where peace and love can recharge us; eventually living our days is this peaceful state of patience and unconditional love. Simply observe the thoughts that spring up, neutrally. You must master the mind, or you will be ruled by it.
Energy will take the path of least resistance so what kind of thoughts do you normally entertain? Do you constantly beat yourself up? Are your thoughts angry or confused most of the time? When life distracts you this is the path that the energy will take. The easiest way to change how you think is to be aware and guide your thoughts, replacing the negative with positive. In this way you are safely directing the flow of thought energy using conscious observation.
Monitoring and directing your thoughts is the first and most important aspect of living a grounded life, as they are connected intimately with the other forms of energy we experience. When I am distracted by emotional overload or confusion in my thoughts I am susceptible to allow the energy to freely move through me unmonitored, and guess what, that is right, it will take the path of least resistance. This happens to be for me anger. I am sure that anger as an energy conduit, has served me for several lifetimes, as easy as it used to come.
By employing conscious observation over my emotions, I can be aware when emotions are not my own, or I can manage where I want my energy to flow. If I start to feel sad I then trigger my mind to find out why I feel sad. If I have no discernable answer then I know that it is not from me, and I release it. If I do get an answer then I can choose to invest more energy into this conduit, by continuing to entertain sad thoughts, or change it by altering my perception by replacing the associated sad thoughts with positive ones, which in turn fuels a different emotional response. In other words, by being aware of your thoughts and how you feel then you can put yourself ahead of your reaction. Every single time I ever lost my temper, there was a moment, even if only a fraction of a second, where I agreed with a thought in my mind that told me I was justified in losing my cool. I would be distracted by whatever circumstance at the moment and would not be aware of the thought before I was investing my energy into that perception, and by that time it is difficult to change the direction of the flow, because it feels good at the time.
Once you can safely direct the flow of thought energy and employ it to ground your emotional reactions, you will not be ruled by your exterior environments, emotional pressures, or outdated thought patterns, and you will begin to truly manage your energy on a moment to moment level.
I like to carry stones in my pocket; it is something I have done as a kid. I now understand why I carry them and I employ that awareness by putting them in my pocket. I like to take a favorite stone out and admire it, and rub it. Little did I know as a kid that it was the very act of loving those rocks that moved the energy into them. What do you enjoy doing? What hobbies do you entertain? Do you love plants and trees? Do you have favorites? Enjoying the small things in life is an ideal outlet for your thoughts and feelings. Admire the beauty of nature, in this way you are putting your focus on universal love and the unconditional love that connects everything together as one. The love will fill you up and you will be inspired in the moment. This is the energy exchange that is occurring when we take a moment to watch that amazing sunset, and we always walk away from these encounters feeling better, and not even aware of why.
The energy flow is the same with children, relationships, animals, or even ideas. The more you love them the stronger they become, and the connection between you grows. Energy is constantly moving along these connections. If we could monitor the thoughts of you and your loved ones for a day, a thought will travel along these energy lines no matter the distance, it will jump from mind to mind, like a quantum nerve synapse.
When we allow our thoughts to go where they want and we allow our emotions to conquer our reason we are not safely managing this energy. The energy within can build up if we try to suppress it, until it reaches what I like to call an "overload limit", at which point explosions/implosions of uncontrolled energy in the form of negative thoughts and emotional outbursts normally happens, and people say or do things they normally regret later, or they sink into a depression, which is fueled with thoughts!
So to truly be able to be grounded in our daily lives we must first be aware and understand how the energy flows before we can begin to manage it. As with the lightning rod it took conscious observation to learn how the lightning can be directed and a conscious decision to put that rod on the house, it will take a conscious decision to manage the flow of energy through your mind and chakras.
To recap; Grounding can be determined as safely directing the flow of energy through conscious observation and introspection, constantly. Our thoughts and emotions are forms of manageable energy and by observing our thoughts and feelings; we can separate ourselves from old thought patterns, fears, emotional reactions, and exterior frustrations and limitations, freeing us to create the balanced life that we are searching for.
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