The Busy Mind

In reality, you will never quiet the busy mind that is forever questioning you and your actions. But you can change its frame of reference.

The mind is always seeking judgment. Sometimes that is a useful and helpful trait. At other times it is not. And, this is where the heart comes in. Think of your mind as a high-tech car. It has an engine with an operating system that can detect when another car is close and in your blind spot. Some can detect raindrops falling on the windshield and turn on the wipers. Still others can automatically downshift on a hill. The technology, or mind of the car, is using the environmental data it is receives to make judgments, and then taking actions based on these judgments to help you on your journey. Sometimes these judgments are helpful. At other times they are not. That’s because the mind of the car has environmental data, but not wisdom.

Think of your heart as the driver who sits behind the wheel. The driver who sees the blindspot indicator flash on can notice that there is no car next to it, but rather that the car is very close to a guardrail. The driver knows that the car just passed by a lawn where the sprinkler was watering the grass and that a few drops splashed upon the windshield. The driver realizes that downshifting on the hill when there is a fast-moving truck behind you is probably not a good idea. That’s because the heart can do more than just react to data and information. It has the ability for discernment. The heart can weigh its options. The heart can take risks or play it safe.

Just like the driver has the ability to stop the car or change its direction, the heart has the ultimate control over our mind.

Your mind wants to ruminate on the idea that you told a lie. But the heart knows that the lie is in the past. It is done. The heart knows that the real questions are whether you will offer yourself grace, and whether or not you will make restitution. The lie is told. What will you do now? The mind rumminates because it can only make sense of what it already knows, the data it has received. It is the heart that has intelligence. Deciding what’s next is best left to the heart. The GPS on a car can map the best way to get to a destination, but only the driver can know that an alternate path is the more scenic route and that taking that road will boost his mood.

So then the goal is not to quiet the busy mind, but rather to give it new or alternate information. One of the reasons why the mind wants to ruminate is because it feels it has not been heard. It is telling you something is out of sync. It is actually trying to keep you safe. But it is working with limited data. The mind will wear you down until you accept what it is telling you. That does not mean that you believe what it is telling you, but rather you acknowledge it, and its fear. Message received.

Can your heart let the busy mind know that it is OK? Everything is OK. You are OK, even though you may be fallible from time to time. Ask your heart. Is this message conceived in fear? Or is it a message based on Love? Direct the mind to choose Love.

The heart has the wisdom to make sense of what the mind is telling it and to offer insights that redirect the mind away from rumination. Acceptance, Grace, and Love are the purview of the heart. These together can soothe the busy mind and help it to release the endless bits of data it tries to cling to. Tell the mind it is heard. Accept what is done and offer yourself grace. Everything is OK. With Love.