How Sticky Are Your Thoughts?

Thoughts can be sticky. So sticky that we can’t tell where they end, and we begin. We believe our thoughts and identify with their message. We give them our attention and coddle them, even when it would do us better to think about something else.

With this characteristic in mind, which thoughts do you want to make stick? Because the ones that stick determine your outcome — who you meet, what you see, and what you know.

Imagine you’re in the Sumatra rainforest. You hear parrots squawking, you can feel the humidity clinging to your skin, and then you see the most beautiful and delicate orchid hanging from a tree that captures your attention.

For the rest of the day, you miss the toucan’s hopping branches, and you miss lunch. All you can think about is the beautiful orchid. You veer off the path, not even noticing you are alone. That’s when the smell of the jungle turns rancid; it’s the smell of rotting death so strong that you can’t find your way back. Then you see the cause of the stench, the corpse flower (Amorphophallus Titanium). Lost in the forest, you strain to remember what was so important that you lost your way.

Orchids, corpse flowers, mistletoe — they’re all parasitic plants known as epiphytes that rely on a host to live. The seeds propagate on a sticky, cotton-like webbing that attaches to trees. They don’t need soil because they rely entirely on the tree for nourishment.

This sticky webbing is a lot like our thoughts. They pop into our heads and grow slowly in our minds when we pay them attention. Some of them stay with us so long that we can’t imagine living without that thought, even when it’s not helping or giving us strength. In this way, they start as orchids and end up as corpse flowers.

What is one thought you have that you are struggling with right now?

Try these examples and see if one is familiar to you:

That’s just the way it has to be.

Things are always going to be like this.

I’m never getting out of quarantine.

I suck at this.

I’m destined to fail.

There isn’t enough time.

I don’t know what I’m doing.

Nobody really cares.

People are the worst.

What’s the point?

These are the corpse flowers. The thoughts that cause such a stench cause you to lose your way and forget what’s important.

The sticky nature of thoughts is much like a parasitic plant stuck to a tree that binds its root system into the host plant becoming part of the host’s internal structure. So much so that often we don’t know where the thought ends and we begin.

Notice which of your thoughts are the stickiest. Do they make you feel good? Do they strengthen your resolve? Being able to recognize the adhesive nature of your thoughts can help weed out the ones that are causing your pain.