While trying to get my 4 year old son to sleep last night he said something that warms a mindful daddy’s heart; “Daddy, I want to go to sleep, but my mind won’t shut up”. Other parents might be alarmed that this points to some psychological issue, but that’s because they can’t see the wakefulness in this statement, because they long ago lost sight of the fact that they are not their thoughts or their minds.

I said, “I know what you mean, but there is one thing I want you to know if you don’t remember anything else I ever tell you and that is that you are not your mind. You are separate and don’t have to be controlled by it. You are not your thoughts.”

I sat quietly as he let his mind eventually quiet down and sleep, happy knowing that at 4 there is still a separation to be recognized.