On this journey, you will begin to understand the hindrances and limitations of your Monkey Mind. The more you understand the Drunk Monkey, the faster you’ll experience peace and contentment in the moment. The quicker you get there, the quicker everything you want to manifest will fall in your lap. That’s what you want, right? Good, then let’s check out the erratic behavior of The Drunk Monkey.
First, think about the metaphor of a Drunk Monkey. What if we let a Drunk Monkey loose in your house? What would happen? It would be chaos…right? The Drunk Monkey would wreck everything, tear the house apart and leave it in shambles. Now, what happens when we let your mind loose in your life? The same thing. Have you ever noticed that your mind can be a complete jerk to you? Who else calls you names, puts you down and always has something negative to say about anything new you try?
Have you ever noticed that your Drunk Monkey has an opinion about everything, including things it knows nothing about?
Does your mind/The Drunk Monkey ever keep you awake at night worrying endlessly about things it can’t control? Sometimes you might even have a howler monkey in your head at night.
In your mind, you may have two different voices. One seems to go on endlessly, always has something to say and never seems to shut up for even a moment (The Drunk Monkey). The other spends most of his/her time listening, noticing and periodically intervening when necessary (Your intuitive self).
Stop! Take a deep breath. Close your eyes and listen for at least 30 seconds. Don’t read another word until you’ve noticed the constant borage of talking, images, sounds and strange content flashing through your mind. Do it now.
Now let’s do it again. Close your eyes for 30 seconds and this time I want you to ask yourself “Where are these thoughts coming from?” Each time you have another thought ask the question again. Do it 10 times and notice where the thoughts come from.
Now let’s really expose the Drunk Monkey for you. This time, close your eyes for 30 seconds and I want you to concentrate on an image of an apple. As you do this, notice what The Drunk Monkey does. Do it now.
What happened? Did you notice that The Drunk Monkey didn’t want to focus on an apple? Did you start to see other images? Did your Drunk Monkey start saying things, talking and producing endless fantasies about totally unrelated topics? Of course it did!
The more you see The Drunk Monkey for what it is, the more you recognize it’s not your friend. Your mind/Drunk Monkey is the ultimate survival tool. It’s a part of your biology. Your biology is an enormous cluster of cells that have come together because survival is easier in groups.
You are not your Drunk Monkey, just like you are not your body. You are the one observing your body. This awareness of mind chatter for what it is can completely set you free.
Author
Matthew Ferry