What kind of change do you want? As individuals, as a country, we are calling for change. Change for the better. We want to slim our bodies, keep our money safe. We want blue sky vacations and the feeling that we as rare individuals have something golden to contribute to the world.

How do we get these things?

“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking that we used when we created them.” -Albert Einstein

We know that we must change our thinking to change our lives.

The first step, number one, is to allow ourselves a little spirituality.

You may be wondering, “Wait, am I going to change my life by becoming spiritual? I’m not spiritual, I don’t pray or burn incense. I want to use science, understand my brain, and take practical steps.”

Here is the brick wall we hit when traveling on that rational path:

If YOU are your MIND, you cannot effectively change it.

It’s like wanting to change the oil in your car, but refusing to get out of the driver’s seat.

Getting out of the car, letting go of that “control” wheel and thought, getting away from it, is the first step to “fixing” anything. If your mind, your vehicle, is not capable of taking you where you want to go, you must be able to see yourself outside of it, in order to change.

YOU are NOT your THOUGHTS. Feel this. There may be a constant set of words running through your head, perhaps your own voice as the narrator of your world… You might be saying right now “Isn’t my consciousness… me? I think, therefore I am, right? ” “If I’m not that voice, then what am I?”

Regardless of how you define the “YOU”, the one who can stand back and witness your thoughts is up to YOU.

Perhaps you would like to see yourself, the most essential “me” in a “I want to change” statement, as a soul. Perhaps this “I” is a vibration. Perhaps this “me” is really only what a man in a white coat could show us; simply a biochemical reaction, or impulses of electricity in a brain.

However, this process really works, and no matter how you see yourself, in order to change your life by changing your mind, you must be able to get out of the driver’s seat.

Example:

Do you remember the cartoons when you were a little kid, where a talking duck had to make the decision whether or not to eat someone else’s cake?

The cake sits on a red-checkered table, vulnerable, the sweet scent luring the duck with a wispy finger of cartoon steam…

And the duck is faced with a decision. A devil appears, pitchfork in hand, floating on a duck’s shoulder. “Eat it!” He smiles, “Nobody’s looking!”

Pop! An angel on the other shoulder, reminding the duck of selflessness and honesty.

These demons, these angels, are separate from “US”. We are the ones in the middle, not the voice that whispers in our ears. The more we practice “witnessing” our thoughts, the more we can change them. And the more kindness we have, surprisingly, the more acceptance we have of those demons, the easier it becomes to say “No thanks.”

So as you face this New Year, and possibly your own resolutions for what you want, try a little spirituality. In those tempting moments, he remembers that YOU, the essence of you, are NOT the devil or the angel.

You are the talking duck.