Why We Comment on Life Instead of Just Being With It

After reading yesterday’s post, you might have noticed something interesting.

Even when we decide to “experience life in a different way,” the mind keeps talking. It continues to comment, explain, judge, and make sense of what is happening. That pretty much just means you are human.

Most of our inner commentary is not negative or dramatic. Much of it sounds reasonable. Helpful, even. The mind believes it is doing its job.

When we wake up tired it says…”this is going to be a long day.” When sitting in slow traffic it says…”this shouldn’t be this bad.” When someone is short with us it says…”what did I do wrong?” 

The mind thinks it needs to stay involved in order to keep things under control. This constant involvement yanks us away from just being with what’s here.

There is the moment itself, and then there is everything we add to it. There is tiredness that comes with the story about what that tiredness means. There is slow traffic that comes with the argument about how different it should be. The moment itself is usually pretty simple, the weight comes from the extra layer we put on top of it.

If we can learn to just be, which is simply noticing when we leave the moment to manage it instead of being with it, we might realize that we don’t have to live this way. This isn’t about stopping thoughts or fixing the mind, it’s just about noticing.

Today, see if you can notice the difference between experience and commentary.

Notice the sound in the room before the label appears.
Notice the feeling in the body before the interpretation arrives.
Notice how quickly the mind wants to explain what something means.

You do not need to stop any of this.

Just notice when you are being with life, and when you are commenting on it from the sidelines.

Each time you notice, you naturally return to just being.

That noticing is everything.
Nothing else is required.