Welcome to the Buddhist Boot Camp Podcast. Our intention is to awaken, enlighten, enrich, and inspire a simple and uncomplicated life. Discover the benefits of mindful living with your host, Timber Hawkeye.

My parents took me to an aquarium when I was really young. At least that's what they tell me.

I don't recall the trip, so how can I know for sure that it ever took place?

If my parents have lied about other things in the past, and they have, then there is no way

for me to know whether the trip to the aquarium was real or if they made it up.

Despite this uncertainty, my peace of mind comes from letting go of the need to know.

It's not that I don't care.

Carelessness is harsh.

I have simply accepted that among other things in life this will forever remain a mystery and I'm perfectly okay with that.

Don't believe everything you think is probably the best advice I've ever been given.

Our thoughts are rarely ever truly our own.

They are shaped by the people around us or by current events and media exposure.

Even when we think of something ourselves, or we think we do,

it's important to remember that the mind is strangely capable of believing just about anything

in order to avoid internal conflict and dissonance.

If you tell somebody a good story, they are going to believe it.

The story doesn't have to be true to be believable,

it simply has to be good enough.

And the same is true of the stories we tell ourselves.

If we're to take everything that other people tell us with a grain of salt, including the books

we read or the news we hear, and we can't even trust our own thoughts, then what can we believe?

Our feelings?

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