Busy Mind, Busy Life

Objectively, there’s a lot going on at the moment – global turmoil, the uncertain, difficult economic times for many businesses, and all the things we need to do to manage our lives. It’s common to get overwhelmed.

And then there is how our mind works. The more the outside world seems sped up, the more our thinking does as well. It looks like the outside world is the cause. With so many things to think about, speeding up on the inside seems warranted and inevitable.

But, what’s really going on?

When we look out at the world and engage with it through our thinking (the only option by the way), it is easy to get sucked into the drama and complexity of it. Remember, our mind, via the gift of consciousness, makes everything we think look absolutely real. If we have no awareness of this process, we are “off to the races” and who knows what we will think and therefore experience. The world will look like something to be battled and managed. The power will seem to be outside of us, in the circumstances. The best we can do is react, cope, and hope. For many of us, this is life.

Here’s what’s really going on.

At any moment when we are reacting and experiencing a feeling we don’t like, we could realize that there is a mental fork in the road. Either jump into the thinking soup or remember how the system works. If we do the latter, we can orient towards the living mechanics behind experience, away from the seeming drama of life. As we look inside and see what is happening, an interesting and powerful thing happens, we slow down mentally, we get clarity, and the wise thinking we need shows up and helps.

I often tell the story of my cell phone ringing late at night and the caller ID shows the name of one of my children. Before I have even answered the phone, guess what is happening in me? I have been learning about the mind for decades but I still could not control what thoughts my mind sent me. Fortunately, I (mostly!) understand and realize what is actually going on. I see that the panic gripping my body is not coming from the phone. The phone is just ringing. I remember that my mind has innocently filled my consciousness with lots of thoughts, most of them not useful! As I see this, I know it is a passing storm. If I engage, it will last, even expand. If I leave it alone, it will blow out the way it blew in.

As I resolutely look in this direction, I notice my system starting to come into balance and before I have answered the phone, wise, useful thoughts start to pop into my mind (“Don’t panic. You don’t know what is going on.” “If there is something serious to deal with, better to be settled and grounded.”).

The more I have conscious awareness of the system at work, the more it rights itself and I find myself in balance again, able to deal with what I have to deal with.

[Spoiler alert – my child was waiting to be let back into his university room and had nothing to do so he thought, “Why not call Dad?” That’s not what my mind made up when the phone rang!]