Switch it off

How do you switch it off? Your mind. How do you hinder the perplexities? How do you stop it from making scenarios, rushing to conclusions, dreaming ahead? How do you escape your own thoughts?

How is it that your entire mood can change by a single potential drawn up in your head? By that question or theory that wakes you up at night and haunts your sleep? How is it that what we fear most or anguish about is usually simply something concocted by our brain and not reality?

We fabricate our dreams, yet we cannot stop ourselves from cursing our own good fortune. And for that, we bring ourselves harm because we expect things to go wrong. Like a self-fulfilling prophecy, we overthink everything and then anticipate it all to take the wrong turn.

But what if we silenced that part of our brain that cautions us so much it does not allow us to live; to enjoy even the simplest things of life?

What if we took the risk of tumbling upside down inside a sheet hanging off the ceiling, like we do in aerial yoga? What if we enabled ourselves to do something different – something out of the box and beyond our comfort zone? What if we enjoyed it so much that we could finally begin to acknowledge that life eventually gains the vivacity you send out to it?

It all begins inside that powerful organ – the brain. Don’t let it bring self-destruction for no apparent cause.

Different Tune

Remember this: your heart and brain play a different tune.

Also part of Weekend Writing Prompt #155

Obscure emotional shadows

Emotions are like an invisible shadow that clings on to us ever since we come into this world. They serve to help us taste life to the maximum. They may enlighten us or confuse us according to the situation. But in essence, they are what makes us stand out from every other species. The fact that we can feel things, sometimes (too) deeply.

We talk of and experience emotional outbursts, because sometimes our feelings get too difficult to bear.

And we often get carried away by what we feel, that sense of excitement, the adrenaline rush, the fear even. We let our emotions dictate our actions and sometimes this results in complicated situations.

So, we are prompted to follow our heart – our feelings – but to take our brain with us. To be smart in the things we pursue and we feel we desire, but to make our decisions wisely, logically and rationally. It’s not always easy to think before you act. Because sometimes your heart pulls you faster and stronger than your mind can convince you to think. It takes you to places you shouldn’t be, places that are as exciting as perilous, ones that can cause both happiness and pain. Your heart can easily drag you into situations you cannot return from, no matter how much your brain may try to take over afterwards.

Emotions are our strongest asset but also our greatest curse.

Smart and wise

Idealists believe that all of us have the power to change the world. It is how we use that hidden strength that affects everything. It is how we cultivate our mind and lives that determines how smart we become. There is always something extra to appreciate in people who try to learn more every day. Who you see are making an effort to improve themselves. To develop their knowledge, their skills and, ultimately, their lives.

“A smart man only believes half of what he hears. A wise man knows which half” (Jeff Cooper).

It is easy to recognise these people. They are the ones who don’t care much about social media gossip, who prefer knowledge quizzes over time-wasting ‘candy-crash-type’ games. The ones who are curious about the world and genuinely want to learn. The ones who constantly try to find new challenges to engage with because they know that this is how we grow. The ones who get bored easily, who can’t sit still, who fidget often but also stay quiet a lot. They are the ones who can get lost in a book or have their attention distracted by an endless trail-quest for information online. They are those who get excited about the little things and who emit a childish energy when it comes to things they are passionate about.

People who use their brains more tend to be happier, healthier and more active.

They are the ones you should seek to have beside you. Because they are those who make you want to become better too, to learn more things and to share that energy within which lies the power to change the world.