Mental hopscotch is apparently one of my favorite forms of entertainment! It seems there are a never-ending range of topics I will process, pull apart, re-imagine or simply allow my mind to jump around and through!
I am sure that somewhere in all these mind games, there is actual stimulus for creating things in my life. Yet, I wonder, what would happen if I just took the time to get specific. Target what I really want. And let the other 5000 possibilities go? Would I create faster. Would I be less stressed? Would I get where I am going with greater ease?
Our minds are our greatest gifts and can be our heaviest burdens. There is no rule book given when we enter this life that tell us how to master the mind. We are simply following the lineage of perceptions, ideas, trials and tribulations that have been passed down from the generations before us. Add to that our own fumbling experiences, and we are left with a map that only makes sense to one person. If it makes sense to us at all!!
We of course know how to develop our intellect. Expansion of knowledge is constant. Wisdom is a possibility for all… Hopefully wisdom is something that we all get to enjoy someday as we reach the Sage years of our lives.
Yet, our minds (my mind) goes wherever it wants! I may be planning to go grocery shopping, but my mind has me replaying a scene from a television show, or trying to figure out who the first person was to eat an artichoke. How many times did they attempt that before figuring out that butter was imperative?
Our minds create drama. The range of ‘what-ifs’ that we conjure and compile with our fantasies, hopes and dreams; is fertile soil! The way our minds calculate options, you would think we were expert mathematicians! Of course those math-genii exist… But many of us could give them a run for their money when it comes to sorting and calculating the mundane!
Most of the time, this drama that starts out in our mind actually triggers our emotions. I know for me, I will be thinking about several different possibilities at the same time. I will think I am narrowing them down; then realize I am sad because one of those options didn’t work out! Or I get nervous because I think I know what I want, but I don’t know the next step. All of a sudden I am experiencing real fear, and I am thinking about something that I just made up!
So I know first hand the feelings of anger, sadness, fear, hope, excitement, etc… simply because I am playing a mental game of hopscotch! Add to those made-up scenarios the actual events that are triggering emotions, and not only is my mind in competition or overdrive mode; my emotions are right there with it!
It is in these moments that I begin to understand the value of developing our internal Observer. The part of us that has the ability to witness and be with whatever is going on around us and remain objective. That ability to watch ourselves jump through hoops or in this analogy -squares on the pavement, and simply smile. The Observer who brings patience, acceptance and awareness to our own crazy-making!
So today, I am still playing mental hopscotch, I am simply Observing this game from a distance!
With Light, Love, and Laughter
Charles
Charles, interesting timing for your wonderful article blog this week. There is a movie just out at the theaters that shows how our different voices talk to us… it’s an animated film, but definitely valuable for adults as well. It’s called, “Inside Out.” Synopsis: Growing up can be a bumpy road, and it’s no exception for Riley, who is uprooted from her Midwest life when her father starts a new job in San Francisco. Like all of us, Riley is guided by her emotions – Joy, Fear, Anger, Disgust and Sadness.
Thanks, Darla
Thanks Darla… I have had several other friends who have mentioned the movie… and really appreciated the way they crafted and worked with the emotions. Thanks for sharing and connecting the dots for me!
I think our inner wisdom knows something our rational minds just can’t wrap around: that life is much fuller with that random chaotic bumbling beautiful tosspot we call circumstance of experiences. Even our English language grasps it far better than the users…think about silent letters…I mean come ON!
Okay Joe, I am still processing the silent letters of the English language… But love your visual of the “random chaotic bumbling beautiful tosspot we call circumstance of experience”! It feels effortless and loving to simply embrace that it is all being worked out with grace… Regardless of our minds ability to get wrapped around it! Thanks for adding rich ingredients to the stew of life!
Bless you Charles, I feel so understood when I read your posts. I too, have wondered how someone figured out the delicious parts of the artichoke were hiding under those tough, spikey leaves. I wonder as well why my mind scans until it finds loss, fear, or confusion instead of being content with the bliss and plenty often available in the present moment. Thank you so much for this beautifully crafted article!
LOL.., you don’t know how good it feels to have ‘crazy-making’ company Vikki! Birds of a feather. And perhaps we are both choosing ease and joy over fear more and more; and we simply need to catch up to our current version! That’s the story I’m telling myself now!
Ooh I think synesthesia and your beautifully coined term mental hopscotch (I’ll take mine on the rocks ) are inextricably bound together.