Early this morning I was fretting over the changes going on in my life and how I was going to get the things I need and solve future problems. These are the sure signs of the ego at work. Nonetheless, this process can, and often does, create misery that looks and feels very real.

Then the realization happened: this maze of seeming problems – “How will I get the cats cared for? What will I do if the car breaks?” – is just another thought construct. My brain runs itself ragged going from apparent problem to apparent problem, but often there is no questioning of the process and the reality of the problem. “Is this really what it seems to be? Is this really how it is?”

I don’t go so far as to question the reality of the car or the cat, because I have found that to be a waste of time, but it is useful to question the ego-brain’s assumption about the nature of problems and especially, how they could be solved.

By letting the thoughts and the seeming “hard-edged” physical reality be a construct and not an absolute – as it is presented by most of the world – you start to not only relieve the experience of stress in your mind and body (no small thing), but you also start to see options for solutions you would not have seen. Let me repeat that: you wouldn’t have seen them.

You open your eyes.

Solutions appear.

That’s valuable.