Untangling those thoughts
The art of backtracking and sorting out your life
We can at times, find ourselves overwhelmed with tasks in life.
Some with passion, rest as obligation. Nevertheless, being duty bound creatures we make a mental note to get the task done eventually. At times, we forget about it amidst the hustle life we live yet gradually with much regret, we approach the much dreaded day — when the task is due for completion.
The web of problem
What once we thought as being hypothetically possible under an hour now takes over a weekend to sort through because of the unanticipated array of new thoughts and experiences that leave so little space for the mind to wander and find peace. In this moment, everything seems like a tangled mess
Somewhere deep inside, we knew this was bound to happen yet we masqueraded it with hope of defying the obvious. We need help yet cannot get the words to speak. We need direction but fail to find the compass. We need composure but there is so little time to meditate and think straight.
Or is it the case? Are we telling ourselves that we cannot while in reality the answer is very much with us? All these confusions and diverging perspectives can confuse the mind into not taking any actions at all. We hope that along sleep can wipe away all our problems under a rug and wake up with a clean slate.
The reality beyond the yarn
Why do such problems persist? It is because people fail to find the root to their problems: A cycle of self-doubt -> lack of confidence -> procrastination -> suppressing failure.
When you fail several times, you assume with compound probability that this perpetual failure means no escape. Finding some order amidst the wild fire of chaos is indeed a herculean tasks.
So how do we untangle those thoughts which now make logic beyond comprehension?
The resolved and comprehensible perspective
The first step is simple: Accept there is a problem and you need help. It is alright to be imperfect and unsure about yourself. Most of the time, the uncertainties of live pave the path for greater insights for the future.
The next step is challenging: Finding some head space. You need to close your eyes, and imagine you are looking at a ball of yarn, those tangled thoughts. Take a step back and think how can you slowly take out a string little by little.
- Sometimes, it might lead to more knots and deadlocks.
- But some other times, it may surprise you to see how insignificant yet magnified the thread was in your mind.
Yes, pulling each string is a risk that can get you into more sorrow. But over time as you practice this ability to get it mentally unsorted, it will become so common that you will stop feeling sad about it but rather approach to resolve it.
So how do you break free from a knot? By pausing it, trying to resolve another section and returning back to it later when the overall interrelations are made clearer. If you do not know how to proceed, take a break by exploring what you know because unconsciously, you are silently solving it and when you return, there will be more clarity.
This method of back tracking until the dependencies of various thoughts are clear is the key to untangling your thoughts to make coherent sense out of it. So the phenomenon can be summarized in these steps:
- Close your eyes.
- Try to think of a unresolved thought. Slowly dissect and resolve it.
- If you are stuck and have no clue, take note of it on a paper and move to another thought at another corner of your mind.
- Repeat the process and when ever you complete a pending thought, back track and try to resolve the previously paused thought, but this time with more insights.
- Gradually break free from as many knots and deadlocks as possible, and open your eyes will a smile.
If you have not realized, what I said is essentially to meditate and help yourself out. It is alright to feel nervous or anxious about the uncertain future, but a little bit of self introspection in a distraction free environment can go miles and miles in harnessing the potential in your soul.
