How to Suspend Your Thoughts
I’m sitting on my porch listening to the sounds of the fan in the window behind me, the chirping of birds, the crickets’ song and the buzzing fly. I’m gazing out ahead of me at the trees and the beginning of raindrops and I’m trying to slow down time. I watch the gentle movement of leaves just at the edges of the branches of the trees and now the rain comes faster and louder and I try to slow down time. I watch the drops smash the top of my new car and notice everything stop in unison. No rain, no fly, no breeze. Now it’s back again, the rain falls heavier as if it wasn’t sure before but has now decided to fully pour. The clouds have released the moisture which has built up in the Earth’s atmosphere and it is truly raining. I am slowing down time.
I have recently become overwhelmed again. My mind has now entered that state where I start to pile up all the “to do’s” together. You know how it goes, don’t you? It’s a helpless feeling really where you begin to take notice of your stress levels, or perhaps you don’t notice it at all until the moment you explode in the form of an outburst at your children, the last straw so to speak where your voice breaks and you scream! Maybe you’ve run out of steam and you just fall asleep while driving or you simply pass out from pure, beautiful exhaustion. You have had enough. Truly you have and so your mind tells your body and then every action after this realization is amplified. I am overwhelmed. Let’s make that mental list: School begins soon, not just for my kids but for me too. Yes, I am going back to school to get my Masters in Library and Information Science. My husband begins classes again too, as he is working on getting his PhD. I am trying to finish editing a manuscript for a client. I am revamping my blog and making it into a full blown website. I am trying to complete the brick walkway that leads from my new porch to the driveway. I am trying to stick to my budget. Soccer starts next week for the boys. I have to keep practicing Italian. I must run sometime today. The kids need school supplies. Well, you get the jist then?
But in that moment of overwhelming anxiety and pressure from the mental list which is “mental” in every sense of that word, I realize something. I realize that it is about to rain.
It is about to rain.
This thought becomes the very anchor that I need to suspend all other thoughts. This is the anchor that grounds me where I am and forces me to realize that I am breathing and have eyes to see and ears to listen to what is happening all around me in this moment. I see rain. I hear rain. It is raining. And that, my friends, is what is called “living in the moment.” That is the “Now.” You must have a strong mind to bring you back into the Now in order to dispel your stress, in order to let go of fear, in order to love, in order to function really. And you do have a strong mind after all.
It is the Now that allows you to let go of the past and the future, and just be. Ah, but what happens next? Where do you go when you step out of the Now? You go back to the future or the past in your mind. So, it’s back to thinking about the list. But what I can gain from being in the Now for just a short while, just short enough to pay attention to the fly, the rain, the breeze and the birds, is the calm that I can bring back with me to the overwhelming list. The calm that I got from a split moment in the Now can be brought back to combat the overwhelming thoughts of the list. So now, I have the ability to break down the list, using what I know from the calmness that I am now equipped with. I realize that because I am alive in this moment, there is nothing that needs to be done about most (if any) of the things from my mental list.
You see, I am enrolled in classes, but I do not start school today and neither do my children. So that is no longer a worry because school is not a part of the Now. Soccer has also not begun, so it is also irrelevant to my present moment. My budget is in order and I am sticking to it as of this moment. I actually finished my editing this morning. So that is not a problem either. I have paid someone to revamp my website, so that is also not an issue. Now, the brick walkway is not complete, but that doesn’t mean that I cannot complete it when I have time to do so.
All worries, all thoughts of fear and anxiety can be dispelled by coming back to the present moment, the Now. It is a wonderful gift that we all have. Some of us have become much better at this practice than others which is why some people are oftentimes worried or anxious while others seem calm most of the time. It is a matter of practice really. If you can practice being in the Now, the present moment more often than not, you will find that your heart rate has slowed, you yell and scream less, you feel calmer, you enjoy what is around you more, you feel powerful and at peace and most importantly you appreciate and notice the gifts in your life. And a feeling of gratitude becomes your default and you become adept at finding the good in some of the worst people and situations.
So how do you suspend your worrisome thoughts, your negative outlook, your noisy mind?
Change your activity. (the smallest change can free your mind)
Notice what is around you. (being aware of your surroundings puts you into the vibrancy of life)
Notice something about you, your fingernail, your toe, your kneecap and say “I love you.” (taking note of your body and all of its mysterious amazement can help ground you and take you away from your incessant thoughts)
Take a walk and make a point to notice what you see. (seeing nature’s work is oftentimes so awe-inspiring that you forget your worries and most everything else)
Write. (this will help you see your thoughts, which is so very eye-opening)
Go help someone with something, anything. (this will help you get out of your own mind and see that there is more to life than your problems)
Practice being in the present moment as I did this morning and it will help you dispel stress, anxiety and seeming problems. If anything, it will help you see beyond what you think is there and may even help you solve problems faster, easier and instill in you the confidence that you can control your own mind.
