How to stop the monkey brain chitter chatter.

Do you remember a time, perhaps when you were a child, and you had to talk your way out of trouble? You had to reason with your mom or dad or a teacher, a principal? A time when you had to placate them? You had to ask for forgiveness? Well, that is the beginning of the "How To."

The chitter chatter in our monkey brains is full of statements of judgement, of resentment, of denial and comments unbecoming a spiritual, enlightened being. They are the "I cant's", "I'm uglies.", "I'm less thans". They are the thoughts that keep us stuck in patterns we struggle with. Those thoughts are the thoughts that drive us to drink what we shouldn't, eat what we shouldn't, buy what we shouldn't, and do what we know we shouldn't. Because of that chronic, stinkin' thinkin', we repeat patterns, habits, and undesirable behaviour to calm ourselves, soothe ourselves and avoid ourselves. Thoughts become things, they become actions.

When you look in the mirror do you say, "Wow! What a fine specimen of a human being I am." or do you say, "Oh hell, I've lost more hair. I hate getting bald." or "I don't like my nose." "I'm fat." "I wish I looked like....." Do you glance and look away unable to deal with your own judgements of yourself and comparisons to others? Sometimes the thinking takes the form of, "If I didn't look like this I could have had that." "If I was thinner, had bigger boobs, had more hair, didn't have that scar, mole, pimple, nose, belly I could or would have, do or be________fill in the blank. Do you let the reflection you see determine who you are?

When you are driving down the street, are you thinking about how grateful you are to be able to drive? How fantastic it is that you are not one of the hundreds of thousands of people in hospitals or the hundreds of thousands who are unable to afford a car, insurance, or fuel?
Are you wishing you were someplace else or someone else? Maybe in a different, shiny new car? Are you thinking about how you hate your job, or who you're going to have to 'deal with' today?" Are you thinking about how you hate to _________fill in the blank.

Chitter Chatter goes the monkey brain. Messages from childhood, or young adulthood that keep us down are the thoughts that float to the surface when we aren't paying attention. They take hold and off we go down the rabbit hole of negativity. Chitter chatter.

So, imagine you are in the trap. You're in the rabbit hole and all of a sudden you realize you've just wasted your morning thinking about the 'what ifs" and the "I cant's". The "I wish" is right up there too. You catch yourself thinking with your monkey brain. Instead of berating yourself, give yourself a pat on the back for being able to recognize the chatter for what it is. And start talking yourself down. Start talking to the monkey brain and say, "Thanks for sharing." Talk yourself out of that trouble you're creating.

When I tried to get out of a spanking as a kid, I would say just about anything. I'd explain, and sometimes lie, and sometimes just say, "I'm sorry, I know that was wrong. I didn't mean to..." Well, it's not much different when talking to monkey brain. "I'm sorry, I can't talk to you right now. Settle down. Thank you for sharing your thoughts but I'm going to move out of this reality of 'less than' and into the reality of 'more than enough'. "I am more than enough love." "I am more than enough friendship." "I am more than enough intelligence." "I am more than enough goodness." "I am more than enough of a human being."

Did you know that wanting to forgive is as good as forgiving? The 'wanting' is forgiveness trying to express itself. If you can't forgive yourself right now for something you did in the past, or something you may still entertain that isn't productive or healthy, or perhaps someone you want to forgive but can't seem to get past the hurt, then acknowledge that you WANT to forgive. Your wanting is an expression of a deep desire of forgiveness trying to express itself.
Forgiveness quiets the monkey brain. When you're parents forgave you the punishment ceased. When you forgive yourself, your self punishment will cease. Your monkey brain chatter will subside and make room for higher thoughts, positive thoughts. And if thoughts become things, as we know they do, then positive actions, positive experiences follow positive thoughts.

Talk yourself out of the rabbit hole, out of monkey brain chitter chatter, and decide to focus on the present moment. Even if the present is facing hardship, recovering from a stroke, facing a jail sentence, looking at bankruptcy, healing a grandchild, holding the hand of a parent facing the end of their life in this dimension. All of these things we do, all of the circumstances we face, we can face without the monkey brain chitter chatter. In fact, we face them with greater ability, wisdom, love, and calm when we step out of the rabbit hole, into the light. As with all of life's challenges, from the mundane morning mirror ritual, to the critical challenge of life and death, it is our perception, our minds that make it horrible or honorable.