You monitor yourself constantly. What did they think of what you said? Are they judging you? You replay interactions, analyzing how you came across. You shape-shift depending on who you’re with, exhausting yourself trying to be acceptable. The fear of other people’s opinions runs your life.
There are thoughts about other people’s thoughts. There’s a whole story being constructed in your mind about what they might be thinking about you. And there’s you, aware of this story being told.
\ pause the program
What if it’s not their judgment you’re avoiding? What if it’s your own? Their thoughts live in their mind, not yours. The only thoughts that can actually move you are the ones appearing in your awareness right now. When you imagine them judging you, whose judgment are you actually experiencing? When there’s insecurity in how you see yourself, sometimes the fear of their opinion is really about not wanting to face the discomfort of your own. You’re the only one whose thoughts have the power to move you. Everything else is just a story about what might be happening somewhere else. And there’s you, here, aware of the whole thing.
Other people’s thoughts about you are their experience, not yours. Your thoughts about their thoughts are just mental activity appearing in you. None of it touches the awareness you actually are.