Part 1 — When the Mind Gets There Before You Do

Even when things haven’t transpired, our minds are already there and ready to respond. I guess in some cases this could be good. It tends to move ahead of us always looking to anticipate what is coming and then trying to prepare us for how we might feel once “it” arrives. I know it tends to feel useful and helpful at first. It gives us the impression that we can have some kind of control over events that are set to occur. But in reality, underneath that movement there is something else brewing.

Worry takes shape not as a loud reaction to events in life, but typically as a steady repetition of thought. We take into account many different outcomes and possibilities and the many ways moments can unfold. It’s deceptive. The more we think about it, the more real it becomes to us. All of this and nothing has even happened yet. As such and in essence, our minds create experiences before any actual “it” moments arrive.

Real and imagined are often hard to distinguish between because of our mind’s active participation in this process. As the emotional weight begins to grow, also not from a moment that has happened yet, but from the sheer anticipation of it, we often find ourselves carrying the feelings of hypothetical or yet-to-occur moments. We gather this baggage as if “it” has already taken place.

This is a moment to stay mindful of and increase your internal awareness. Worry, when you begin feel it creeping into your thoughts, even slightly, consider that it is less about what is just ahead of you. It is creating a situation and anxiety that you may unnecessarily address in the moment. In other words, worry isn’t constantly coming from some future source, it’s coming from your mind and your thoughts and is projecting and predicting from the right now. Recognition of this does not stop the thinking, but it does bring awareness to where the load is stemming from. That awareness is where the shift begins. And this shift is where we don’t let worry lure us in.

Stay Mindful…

Rebirth.