Thoughting, Bullthoughting, and Karma — How to Change Your Life With Your Thoughts
The karmic process is really quite simple; let me explain.
Consider the question, what am I grateful for?
I find it to be an interesting question because, when asked, I realize it makes me actively think; as opposed to having meaningless thoughts run through my head. This is the first thing I notice.
Then I notice, how much better it feels to actively think, instead of thoughting.
What is thoughting?
I don’t think thoughting is a recognized word. I could not find a single reference to the word in any dictionary. But, it is a word, and it should be recognized and acknowledge more. It is in my world.
“I define thoughting as the default subconscious cognitive process”
I define thoughting as the default subconscious cognitive process — not conscious or unconscious, but subconscious. It is the regurgitation of past experiences, influencing the thoughter to feel a sense of living in the past or the future. The flavor of thoughting could be positive or negative. However, more often than not, thoughting has a negative flavor. Therefore, I will focus on negative flavored thoughting in this acrticle — after all, isn’t it the negative that we want to minimize, or even eliminate.
I would classify negative thoughting as the ceaseless flow of useless bullshit. Or maybe, bullthoughts. There you go! In actively thinking about thoughting, I’ve created a new word, bullthought (bullthoughts, bullthoughting). Something positive in all this negative.
“Modern Western society, unfortunately, has a tendency towards bullthoughting”
Modern Western society, unfortunately, has a tendency towards bullthoughting. Regurgitating old material of the past, stirring feelings of guilt, shame, and embarrassment. While bullthoughts of the future, of anticipations, stir feelings associated with stress, worry, and anxiety.
Have you ever noticed yourself caught in a stream of negative thoughts? Ever notice where your thoughts are locating you in time — past or future? Try it. I guarantee, if your thoughts and feelings are negative, you’ll be in the past or future. Or, if you notice (keyword is notice) you’re experiencing negative feelings or emotions, stop and examine your thoughts, what they are and where they place you.
“I should be grateful to be able to think”
So I guess I should be grateful to be able to think, to be an active participant in the cognitive process and the creation of my own thoughts. Right? Because doesn’t my thinking create thoughts? Then, these thoughts that I’ve created are filed away somewhere in a dumpster in my head. This dumpster could be called the bank, as in memory bank, because that’s what it actually is. After I’ve finished creating the thoughts, they get relabeled as memories (data), and stored away in my memory bank (databank), only to be set free with a life of their own when I least expect it; when I have my guard down; when I’m relaxing and not thinking about anything; when I’m thoughting! And, lest I forget, there are feelings and emotions that I’ve attached to these memories.
“There are feelings and emotions . . . attached to these memories”
When I retrieve these memories, they become thoughts again, activating the feelings and emotions that I attached to the memory back when I initially created it. Critically, this thought that I’ve now activated creates more like-thoughts. It’s snow-balling, expanding, growing, festering more like-thoughts, like-feelings, and like-emotions, growing disproportionally like compound interest on a loan. The more it grows, the more of my life it contaminates, spreading its negative energy ever further. If I don’t get a hold of it soon, it’s going to take over my life completely, and I’ll be a wreck! Like a bad tenant, it’s making its presence felt in every available space, driving others out, leaving no space for any positive data.
Let me ask you, How many times have you said “nothing” when someone has asked you what you’re thinking about? If I ask myself this question, that answer would be, too many times.
“Hey, what are you thinking about,” someone yells.
“Nothing,” I respond. It’s true though. I wasn’t thinking about anything. I was thoughting.
“Be an active participant in your own creation, not a bystander”
But, “hey, what are you thinking about?” should really be considered a wake up call. It’s the Universe sending a message (via a human messenger) to quit bullthoughting and start thinking — to be an active participant in my own creation, not a bystander. The Universe is trying to bring my awareness to the endless stream of bullthoughts going through my being; the literal negative energy. And, to bring my attention to what I’m doing to myself so I can change it. When I’m bullthoughting, my thoughts have a negative quality; consequently, I’m manifesting from that energy. (Equally, if my thoughts have a positive flavor, a positive energy, I’ll be manifesting with positive flavors).
Nonetheless, being caught in a steam of thoughts seems to just happen. It happens to us; we don’t do it, do we!
Or do we?
“Who does the retrieving when I’m thoughting?”
Of course we do!! Hell, I create ALL my thoughts through my experiences and my thinking; my thinking about my experiences. All this data gets stored in that dumpster I spoke of earlier, only to be retrieved when I need to make meaning of something, at which time the data is projected onto the new experience requiring meaning. I know I do the retrieving when I’m actively thinking, but who does the retrieving when I’m thoughting?
Good question!
Regardless of who or what does the retrieving, imagine if the retriever only had positive data available in the dumpster. Just pause . . . and imagine that for a moment. WOW!
So, how do I get to that point? How do I fill my dumpster with positive data only?
“Although my senses seem reliable, they are actually quite inept at their task”
I experience everything through my physical senses. And although my senses seem reliable, they are actually quite inept at their task. Take my eyes for example. They’re always focused on something; everything else is in the periphery. The dictionary describes periphery as “the outer limits or edge of an area or object: a marginal or secondary position in, or part or aspect of, a group, subject, or sphere of activity: a shift in power from the center to the periphery”. So even though my eyes appear (pun intended) to be doing an incredible job, they are not. They don’t see the whole picture and in fact, only capture a very small part of the entire image they are accessing.
Then, I have to make meaning of what I see (if I care enough). If I don’t care, it’s because I’ve already created meaning around what I currently see; projected from a similar experience I had in the past, which I had stored in my databanks (dumpster). When I see what I believe is the same thing, I retrieve the past information and project it onto the current image to make sense of it (keyword here is believe). My senses have a permanent hand in the dumpster — a constant, instantaneous feedback loop for rapid recognition and labeling of things that engage my physical senses. Now, there is abundant information about the neurocognitive and physiological aspects of this if you’re interested, but I’m trying to keep this simple. Just image for a moment though, the fight or flight physiological response without this instantaneous feedback loop. It’s a necessity for the survival of our species.
Back to the process.
If the current image is a little different from the past, I may feel some curiosity about the particular difference and consequently update some of the data (thoughts, memories) in my dumpster through thinking. Then again, the data retrieved from the dumpster may be sufficient to satisfy my needs, rendering the minor difference irrelevant. Either way, this is a process using projections of past experiences and analyzing any conflicting information between the projected experience and the present experience for potential reevaluation.
What if there are no past experiences in my dumpster to project? Well, depending on my level of interest with the present experience, I may begin a thinking process to create new data. I may also retrieve data that I feel has similarities with the present experience and test/compare to see how that data fits with the present experience. And from it all, I create new data.
Now, I could go into all the other physical senses and break them down in the same manner, but I think you get where I’m coming from.
“There are pros and cons to this process”
So there are pros and cons to this process. Today, if I meet a beautiful, blonde lady with a Southern accent, it doesn’t mean she’s a gas-lighting, cheating, narcissist just because the beautiful, blonde lady with the Southern accent that I dated in college was. (There was no such lady, I just created her for this example). These are two entirely different people, and projecting data from my college experience onto the current experience (lady) is an unhealthy projection.
In contrast, if I poke my finger into a fire and it gets burnt, I’ll create data about the experience and store it in my dumpster. The data may include information such as fire can burn and hurt me; don’t get too close to it. In the future, when I see another fire, the data will be retrieved from the dumpster and projected onto my present situation. That’s a pro, a healthy projection. It’s not the best process though. The best process would involve a continuous collaboration between old data from the dumpster and new material; a constant review and update process.
Data is constantly coming forth from my dumpster. Projection flows uninhibited because of the constant, instantaneous feedback loop my physical senses have with my dumpster. So, how do I eliminate, or at least minimize negative projections?
Good question.
“I need to fill my dumpster with good shit”
Yes, that’s correct — I need to fill my dumpster with good shit.
I experience through my senses, creating and recording data as it flows in. This data helps me label and react to same/similar experiences in the future, which is extremely helpful. However, being satisfied with old data exclusively for projecting on and defining my present experiences will make me lazy and stagnant. It will completely stifle my psycho-spiritual growth. And frankly, my life will suck.
No experience is exactly the same. I need to maximize my opportunities to have new experiences. From these new experiences, with focused attention, I create new positive thoughts and memories, thereby filling my dumpster with goodness. In doing so, I will be continuously rewriting old dysfunctional, redundant data, and improving my life and existence.
Thoughting alone reaffirms old unhealthy projections, which further fills the dumpster with negative data. In contrast, with active thinking, which encompasses aspects of critical thinking, awareness, and focused attention, old redundant data is rewritten or deleted, and new, more accurate data is created.
By maintaining a quality of present moment awareness, I can recognize what I’m projecting and not let this projection dictate my present experience. Since that last experience, the one I retrieved from my dumpster, I’ve changed a lot, and it’s safe to say I’ve evolved as a human being. Knowing this, I will create a new experience around the present situation. A positive one.
And there my friends is how you create your karma, and rewrite your karma for better future experiences.
