The other day, I was reading in “Meditations” the compilation of the writings of Marcus Aurelius, as translated by George Long.
In book IV, Section 3 of that book, I came across the following:
Men seek retirement in the country, on the seacoast, in the mountains; and you too have frequent longings for such distractions. Yet surely this is great folly, since you may retire into yourself at any hour you please. Nowhere can a man find any retreat more quiet and more full of leisure than in his own soul; especially when there is that within it on which, if he but look, he is straightway quite at rest. And rest I hold to be naught else but perfect order in the soul. Constantly, therefore, allow yourself this retirement, and so renew yourself.
And then further along in that section, he states this:
Readiest among the principles to which you look let there be these two: Firstly, things external do not touch the soul, but remain powerless without; and all trouble comes from what we think of them within. Secondly, all things visible change in a moment, and are gone for ever. Recollect all the changes of which you have been a witness. The world is a succession of changes: life is but thought.
Reading this reminded me of something that Byron Katie wrote in her book, “A Thousand Names For Joy”, in Chapter 13:
I used to go out into the desert to get away from the world, and I took the whole world with me in my head…
The trick is learning to recognize, acknowledge and take responsibility for the stressful thoughts we think. Doing this will allow us to question our stressful thoughts and see the truth behind them. As we do this, the stressful thoughts drop away, having delivered their message of truth. I know of no other process better suited to helping people do this than The Work of Byron Katie. And since I live in the Salt Lake Valley, I highly recommend Kathryn Dixon and the other nice folks at Clarity Coaching Institute; they’ll help you learn how to do The Work on your stressful thoughts. It’s the path to a great vacation in your mind!
