A Cluttered Mind

Who can find anything in a cluttered mind? I find myself tripping over random ideas, nagging concerns, unresolved problems, a forever fluxing to-do list, tempting daydreams and unfinished projects. What to address first, plagues me most. What takes priority? Sometimes this can be an obvious choice while at other times, an agonizingly difficult one. Like a cluttered closet, my mind needs a good spring cleaning. Everything needs to be sorted through and tossed into their appropriate bins including one for the trash.

Not every idea is a good one but they should be written down and explored, then deleted if necessary. Nurturing and growing those good ideas requires care and attention but a worthy exercise in these endeavors can garner much fulfillment. While fruitless, unwise ones revised, recycled or deleted.

Concerns and worries take up far too much valuable space in my mind and emotions, especially since many of these can and should be disposed of. Most worry stems from things I cannot control or fear over imaginary things that may or may not even happen. We could all do a little better processing these things and letting them go. Living life carrying them around is like trying to vacuum, dragging that old canister vac around. It makes the simplest task rather cumbersome.

Unresolved problems need to be sorted into “Accept it (& move on)” or “Fix it (& move on)”. Life hands all of us situations that are beyond us and we need to accept what we cannot change and leave behind if we can or simply make the best of what we are given. I cannot change what happens to me but I can control how I react to it. That being said, fixing things can take time and patience. I have to stay the course and have faith in myself and my resolve to see it through.

My never-ending, always-changing to-do list is what it is and all I can do is plug away at it. I leave completed tasks on the list and check them off leaving pages of completed tasks behind in a notebook so that I can occasionally review all the things that I have completed instead of focusing on what I have yet to do. Taking the time to acknowledge all that I have done can give me a sense of accomplishment and reminds me to cut myself a little slack; I’ve made it a long way and it’s positive to recognize that.

Daydreams are sometimes my only escape so I indulge at least once a day. Happy thoughts are always a good thing and should never be discouraged. My decadent reveries frequently give birth to great ideas and therefore are doubly productive frequently resulting in personal growth and healing.

Unfinished projects are those ideas we are trying to grow, problems that are works in progress, items on our to-do lists and a few escapist daydreams that have potential to become beautiful realities. All these things in their own way are important to a facet of me and need to be given attention in varying degrees. Sometimes I schedule time for them or set reminders and deadlines for myself; then, at other times, I decide to work on them randomly when I find myself with unexpected free time or realize I need to unplug from news and media due to overexposure.

Regardless of all that clutters, I write it down, whether a list, reminder, idea, daydream or project, I write it down to release it from my mind’s occupation. I don’t have to worry about forgetting anything because I wrote it down. I have stored it away in a place that I can return to at my choosing.