A recent Twitter feed post stated that a high school in Houston USA will turn away parents if they show up at the school wearing bonnets, pyjamas, hair rollers or leggings. Now many of us may sit here and ask “who on earth would wear pyjamas and hair rollers to a school?” Well, it seems that just as a significant number of Australian parents wouldn’t have a second thought about wearing leggings into a school, some parents don’t give a second thought to wearing pyjamas or hair rollers.  Whether you are a person who thinks pyjamas are okay or whether you are a person who thinks that only suits are okay, the reality is that both of you are convinced that what you think is correct. Different thinking but both ‘thinkers’ convinced it is correct. How can this be so?

Until we have a fresh thought, every one of us is living out of thought from our conditioning. Some of us have thinking that says it is okay to wear pyjamas; some of us have thinking that says it is okay to wear leggings; and some of us have thinking that says it is okay to wear a suit.  None of our thinking is either right or wrong, it is simply what we unconsciously think. But, put a suited person in a slum alley, leggings in a boardroom and pyjamas at a court hearing, and it may not be without unwanted consequences. Much of our everyday thinking comes from our conditioning, so whenever you go to judge someone, first remember it is what they have learned, and second, it most probably has a use by date.

Experiencing the limits of our conditioning is a powerful moment. It is an opportunity to recognise that the thinking we have going through our heads no longer serves us and that it is time to move on, to open up to a fresher way of thinking of living.  We are all making up our thoughts about life. We are not bound to only live out our thinking created during our childhood or experiences since. That thinking sooner or later says something is impossible. This is not true. At any point we can recognise our conditioned thinking for what it is and be open to something fresh.

Human beings continually experience the ups and downs of their thinking. One moment we can be feeling despondent, and in the next feel blessed to be alive. If we can recognise that our thinking is coming from our conditioning, the potential angst over its content is irrelevant. Be curious and reflective about thought and I guarantee that you will continually shift and change, and deepen into a wiser version of yourself. Becoming more than what we were yesterday, being open to possibility, is available to us throughout our entire lives. The journey is amazing.

Stay involved with life. And whenever you hit thinking that says something is impossible, know that that is just thinking from your conditioning. Regardless of your background, or your life experiences, moving forward with curiosity, enthusiasm and wonder is always available. Stay with it.