Andrea Thiel Connell

I woke up this morning, early, 4:45am. I got a ‘thought knot’ in my brain and couldn’t unravel it while I was lying there so I was forced to get up. On top of that, my dreams, all night, were disturbing to say the least. My life – in my dream – was eroding, earth falling away to gaseous fire pits, big snakes, rotting dying people, secrets, hiding. Obviously some deep messages to figure out…or not! My dreams were being affected by some bad TV watching (serial killers, snakes and mystery). My crazy collection of random thoughts were tying up in knots creating unsolvable problems. So I got up, planted my feet in the real world and made a coffee. As I sat with my coffee in the early morning gray, still mostly black, light, (did I mention it was really early?)  I found myself reflecting on how thought full my brain and life was. I know better than to try to figure my way out of a thought knot. Thinking only makes it worse. ‘Thought knots’ have to be untangled. Carefully. Slowly and deliberately.

As I consciously began to unraveled my ‘thought knot’, I became aware of the huge variety of thoughts that swirl through my brain in any given moment. Gradually, as the various ideas started to let go and flit away, I started feeling better and more centered. My brain stopped its’ swirling and my focus was restored. In the back of my brain I noticed feeling very grateful that I had the awareness to sort through my mind problems.

The mind is an amazing thing with enormous potential to trap us in useless circles or free us into beautiful dimensions of new possibilities. I prefer to spend most of my time in the latter state but occasionally find myself locked in the former. We all do. Fortunately, I have learned to have faith in my brain and in the power of my mind. It’s not always easy to shift your brain away from swirling patterns to useful ones but I have always considered it a very essential piece to my freedom and happiness to be able to access the power of my mind rather than be victimized by the habits of mindless spinning. Within all the mental madness, all the swirling under tow is clarity, focus and direction. Underneath all the muddy thinking hides a crystal clear beautiful mind capable of outstanding feats.

Learn to meditate, spend time contemplating life, play games, find things to laugh at, try new things, say yes instead of no, practice non-attachment.

I have come to trust that my mind is the interface between the outer world and my heart. What I want in my heart will be made manifest through the power I own to wrap my mind around what it takes to get it. If I never discover what I am all about mentally, my challenges are sure to overwhelm me and I’ll never be able to access my power to create the life I want.

My happiness, your happiness will be determined by the freedom we feel to exercise the choices of our mind and we can’t do that if we constantly get bogged down in ‘thought knots’. Happy untangling.