The First Time - Grasshopper

Life's filled with “first times.” Some are memorable and others we’d like to forget. There is one that is life-changing, but many have not experience it yet.

What is this moment that opens our eyes and closes us off to a pack of lies?

It’s the first time you discover that you’re not you.

The “you” we believe ourselves to be is someone we made up and got comfortable with. That’s the one who has a bunch of labels stuck to them like bumper stickers. Each label represents a role we play. We’re like an actor who's locked into the script they’re handed.

But then it comes from out of the blue: the first time you discover that you’re not you.

It’s an unmistakable feeling because that’s what it is, a feeling. It has no thoughts attached. It’s a time of empty mind and you immersed in the sublime.

You discover that you’re not your labels or your thoughts about them. It’s the first time you’re free from thoughts. You realize you are no longer the thoughts in your mind that pretend to be you.

Quoting from a song from singer Irene Cara, “What a feeling.”

If you haven’t experience it yet, it’s a first time you’ll never forget.

You can pave the way by finding a way to quiet your mind every day. Then it happens without warning: a shiny new bumper appears that’s not stuck to the past. You aren’t shackled or defined by your thoughts, only free to be the “you” your mind wouldn’t let you see.

That’s the first time you truly know that being out of your mind is a compliment.

All the best,