"Watch your thoughts; they become words. Watch your words; they become actions. Watch your actions; they become habits. Watch your habits; they become character. Watch your character; it becomes your destiny." -Leo Tolstoy
(not sure if he actually said this or if it's an urban legend- I just came across it, having written it down 6 years ago, and I still like it very much.)
Watch your thoughts and ask yourself, "Who is think these thoughts?" If the answer is "I am", try and locate the "I" that is thinking them.
Sorry for the typo, should be "Who is *thinking* these thoughts?"
@voidspace the answer is the same -
Yes.
and now, but not 6 years ago, there is sometimes a stillness there.
learning...
@lauraritchie
Out of interest, where do you locate the "I"?
@voidspace today, in a lake, vast and cool, (somewhere in my chest bizarrely, at the top of my lungs below my collar bone) It is light, there are mountains, and I can see for miles. I am not in the water but above it, and I am warm.
I visualise things -
Today I reached the end of many deadlines and felt so much stress fall away.
and I played my cello a lot! :)
I'm sure, like myself, that when "you" are in the moment, completely immersed in the experience of playing, "you" disappear - at least momentarily. :)
@lauraritchie Looks like it's evolved over time in the USA - see https://quoteinvestigator.com/2013/01/10/watch-your-thoughts/ - has ended up a very nice quote though!
@zeborah thank you for looking it up!
@lauraritchie I know a very similar phrase from this musical, The Fourth Messenger, a retelling of the story of the Buddha as a contemporary woman: https://thefourthmessenger.bandcamp.com/ (most prominently I think track 30 Look to the Thought Reprise)