Is Your Mind Playing Tricks on You?

Love of Life

Love of Life

It’s a perfect summer evening, when the Sun is just starting to be lower in the sky, and to dip behind the trees creating shadows. The gentle wind rustles the trees just so gently.   I am blessed to be able to sit and take in the green grass and majestic trees with a beautiful blue sky at the treetops edge, and big fluffy clouds drifting by. My mind is clear and focused. It is relaxed with not much going on. It is nice to be present in nature; Just me, and the Earth  while I sit in an Adirondack chair enjoying the view.   Right now everything is ok.

It is not always like this. Depending on the day, it might not be as calm and nice in there. My mind can spin, it can get stuck on a thought, it can “make me think” I’m unhappy, or the sky is falling or….100 different scenarios. Sometimes it will wake me up in the middle of the night and not want to stop talking for an hour or more over the silliest thing as how and what I’m going to say or what I need to do. I mean who really cares are about such things when my dreamtime is at stake?!

My mind loves to play tricks on me. It tells me one thing when the reality of the situation has nothing to do with what my mind says it does. One of the greatest gifts I was given through Therapy years ago  was learning who all the different “voices” were in my head. Do you know where your voice is among the voices in your head? How loud is it in there? What I mean by the different voices is where are you in all of them? One voice is from your Mother. It will be her voice sounding like you telling you what is what in a given situation, other times it is your Father or a friend or some article or you Ego. The key is to learn who is who and the sound of your own voice. It is also about not actually listening to all that noise in your mind, but drop into your heart. That is where your voice is, the voice of your Soul. When you take a deep breath, relax and drop down into where you truly reside, then you can hear what is truly best for you, what you desire, what you need to say next. Your mind is amazing and powerful. It operates this incredible vehicle we live in, our bodies, but it doesn’t hold your truth.  The mind can easily be taken over by your Ego, or others opinions, and that is when Fear gets in.

mind photoWhen Fear sets in it is hard to see the light in the dark. It’s more challenging to know you are safe, you are provided for, and all is well.   My mind will tell me things like, you are never going to be free from your day job, you aren’t talented enough, you are not creative to come up with cool programs people will like, you don’t know the first thing of running a company or marketing or no one will love me or I’ll be alone forever. Gosh. If I listen enough, I will get depressed. I will then eat too much and then, I’ll be even more unhappy and my body will be heavier and my emotions will become toxic and then, what I am afraid of happens. I don’t create anything, I have put on weight, I will not have made any progress toward my future independence, and then I’ll be sad not wanting to join in life. Talk about self fulling prophecy!

depression photo

Depression for me can set in quickly if I let it. A dark cloud of grey starts covering everything.   So, I don’t let it in. I’m not talking about depression from a chemical imbalance or the kind that is brought on by trauma or loss, which I have experienced. I am speaking now of the kind that can be avoided which is the self-induced kind of depression that sets in from negative thinking. How you can avoid going down into the dark tunnel is to decide in the moment that you need to focus on what your grateful for, so I thank my noisy mind for all its input and then I focus on what I need to do next to create something wonderful. To make steps in the direction I need to go. I stop trying or making excuses. I jump in with both feet as if this is my last day on Earth. I am committed to my happiness and my future. I am living full out!

Please jump into the Fear and wake up on the other side, supported, loved and in one piece! Oh yes…and very Happy you did! I would love to hear your thoughts on how your mind plays tricks on you and what you do to get back on track to success and joy of life.

Love & Light,

Carolyn

 

 

 

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