What do you think about on any given day? How much work you have to do, the people you need to impress, how you look, how much money you have or don't have, the struggles, the blessing, et cetera? Our minds are constantly going. I cannot get mine to shut off, even after a long day and I need to sleep; my mind is still racing about everything that I "need" to do. But our mind does a lot of other things too--negative and positive. It keeps us from making rash decisions and helps us think through situations. However; it is up to you to decide which is negative and which is positive.
I often would like to think that my mind is positive for a majority of the time, considering I'm an optimist. I hate to inform you, but the fact is, that statement is incredibly false; a majority of my thoughts happen to be negative. What I have to do is then turn those negative thoughts into positive ones, simple right? Well actually not, and in recent weeks I have found it incredibly difficult to be positive with everything going on. It is so easy for us to beat ourselves down, look at our failures, and believe we will never be good enough. I say that to myself probably almost everyday; everything around me is wanting me to fail. I cannot let it control me. You cannot let it control you.
Overthinking is something that I don't stop doing. I'm a writer and I always come up with a list of ways things could turn out. Should I be doing that? Probably not because I usually go with the worst case scenario and no one wins. Then I go and it usually turns out perfectly fine, so what was the big fuss all about?
The mind is powerful and it often lies to us. That is solely why I wrote this poem you are about to read. It was a reflection of a lot of things going on and I needed to get some of it down and share it with all of you. This poem is something I never thought I would write, but it just came out. I hope that you can find yourself relating to it as I do. The point is that you can't let your mind control you and put you down. If you put yourself down, then the battle is lost. Don't lose the battle; stand up and fight your mind. If you don't you, might miss out on a whole lot of life.
ON THE INSIDE
By: Kelsey Hoffman
As the rooster crows
You are there.
As the wolf howls
You are there.
As the breath escapes
You are there.
As the sun sleeps
You are there.
Nothingness-Worthlessness-Meaningless-Hopelessness
You look raising your eyebrows
At the very thought of me in
Distinguished
Icy
Subconscious
Generalized
Utterly
Strong
Tastelessness
Yet I listen to your quiet voice
You constantly control my self conceptions
Continuing to push me down
I can’t escape.
I can’t run.
I can’t hide.
You are everywhere
You are
Me.
This is a poem that I hope sticks out to you and is relatable. A really powerful video that Alan Watts did on the mind is worth a few minutes of your time to watch. The mind never stops, but that doesn't mean you have to.
