Some say "A mind is a terrible thing to waste". I, on the other hand, say that a mind can be a terrible thing to have!
Our MIND, the Maddening Involuntary Neurosis Designer, is like an early warning system. What if..., then what, and if..., oh my GOD, look out, be careful, oh no...
We humans have an incredible capacity for creating self misery. Usually it starts with our mind, the 24 / 7 story creator, we take small bits of information, some real, some perceived, and we proceed to weave an intricate tapestry of tall tales. What is worse, we then buy our own story and declare it to be the God given truth. To add insult to injury, we then react to our own concoction.
This reminds me of the one about a man who was traveling down a rural road when all of a sudden he has a flat tire. He gets out of his car to change the tire only to find that he doesn’t have a jack. Just as panic is about to set in, he remembers that he saw a house some two miles back, and he decides to walk back and borrow a jack. As he walks he starts to think (Oh! Oh!), “what if I walk all this way and no one is home?” “What if I walk all this way and someone is home, but they don’t have a jack?” “What if I walk all this way, they are home, they do have a jack, but they won’t lend it to me?” “What if I walk all this way, they are home, they have a jack, they won’t lend it to me, and to top things off, they’re rude?” Just then he reaches the door, knocks on it, and the man of the house answers the door. “Hello! And our stranded traveller replies “You can take your jack and…” I’ll leave the rest to your imagination. The poor home owner never knew what hit him!
Indeed it is hell reacting to our every thought, feeling almost paranoid. Is this real, or we making it up? Reality is a funny thing, and one of the reasons that psychotherapy is in such demand. Our reality may be nothing more than a story and our truth just an unmitigated lie. One’s reality is made up mostly of perceptions. Consequently, letting your mind run amuck is a sure way of creating anxiety and excessive stress.
How many sleepless nights do you spend dreading the apocalypse of the next day? How much time do you waste worrying about what is to come? How many different permutations of what is to happen did you react to? Countless! Each of these senseless concoctions erode your self-image, sanity and health thought by thought.
Yesterday’s tomorrow looks nothing like today. In reality our worst fears never materialized. Indeed things may not be good, but they are never as bad as we make them out to be. We put ourselves on an emotional mega roller coaster. How many times have you done this?
It's time to stop this madness! Take control of your emotions and consequently your life! Learn to discern the difference between valid concerns of the mind and the irrational ones. Don't get caught up in your own stories, STAY OUT OF YOUR MIND!
Carlos A. Bauta
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