The Outside World is Outside of Your Control

When you look out of your window what you are looking at is the next moment of the unfolding of the universe. What you are seeing is the direct result of all the moments that happened before. A mind – blowingly long time before.

The unfolding of the universe began 13.8 billion years ago at the time of “The Big Bang”. I’m guessing you’d agree that had absolutely nothing to do with you. So an interesting thing to ponder on is why does the moment you are looking at have anything to do with you? In CBT Therapy there is a thinking error called “personalisation”. This basically means that often we mistakeingly take things personally when in fact they aren’t personal in anyway.

It seems that because you are looking at the moment, that it has something to do with you, Even though at the same time you are experiencing the moment directly in front of you there are moments happening behind you , to the side of you, above and below you and everywhere else in the universe. There are moments occurring in Japan but you don’t care about those do you? You only really care about those moments that you see. What you call your life. As a result because what we think we see is ours, we naturally think we can and should change it. To bend it so that it is more how we want it to be.

However this is a huge error on our part. A mistake that can lead to dire consequences for our mental health. How can we change something that we did not create? Why and how are we responsible for something that is the direct result of 13.8 billion years in the making? What right do we have to do this? We are just visitors here. We are here for a miniscule amount of time compared to the universe itself.

Do you want to be responsible for the weather. Or the waves on the sea? Or making trees grow. Or whether a Polar bear and her three cubs in Antartica eats tonight. Or for making every heart beat?

Be careful because your Mind can make you think you can change things in the outside world and that you are responsible when the truth is you are not. It is just creation unfolding in front of your eyes. And you get to see and experience it. Lucky you! An article on gratitude.

If the dinosaurs had not roamed planet earth, the moment you are seeing right now would be entirely different. Everything had to happen exactly as it did for you to experience what you are seeing right now. This fact is uber relevant when it comes to our past and wishing some, most or all of it was different to what actually happenned. You see it `couldnt have been any other way. If it had there is no way you would be reading this right now. If one thing in your past had been different you are not here in the way you are now. In CBT Therapy we help people process and come to a deep acceptance of their past. And at the point where people can truly accept their past regardless of what terrible things happenned – healing occurs.

To put this in perspective the earth itself is only 4.5 billion years old. All the elements that are on this earth and are in everything that lives here were created in the big bang. The periodic table has in total 118 elements. 94 of those elements occur naturally on our earth and were created at the time of the Big Bang. That means that your nose is made of stuff that came into existence 13.8 billion years ago. Your face is literally made of stars.