MentalHopscotchMental 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