Content

With each waking second, we are experiencing content. 

Life happens in a series of photos taken endlessly and thoughts are produced just as quickly as the moment changes. 

It is said we produce more than 60,000 thoughts per day, which is just over 40 a minute. 

These thoughts are reactions, perceptions to what we see and observe that flow like a river in our minds as some move along, unperturbed, while others are caught in a snag or a rock as we hold onto certain ideas about ourselves and others as we go about our day.

How you come out of the extremes of Anxiety feels like that of redirecting a river, one stone at a time, toward lakes of meaning you would rather have your thoughts poured into and barren pastures still promising abundance. 

It takes a while learning what situations cause the flow of thoughts to direct course toward what are vacuous drains within my mind, with all those thoughts surely being of waste. 

They pull me in and I just let my mind direct its flow of energy toward these sinkholes of time travel that seemingly paralyze me at times from doing what I really want to be doing, which is experiencing the world instead of rotting away behind a computer, tending to my anxieties.

Working on yourself is hard, and so is redirecting an entire river of thought toward barren fields of thought parched with desire over being given attention. 

When I find myself exploring Compassion, I see its benefits and value. But when I am awash in my own mistakes or caught in the midst of an undesirable conversation, I can’t seem to find Compassion as I get pulled into the trappings of Apathy over my own worth. 

I hate making mistakes. But mistakes are part of life and are a leading indicator of success because they are evidence of attempts at plate.

You don’t move a river but stone by stone and redirecting the flow of your thoughts is a matter of number of attempts at redirecting course. 

It means developing awareness around what situations you experience failure from and setting up road signs for yourself that help you know when to turn or end up where you always do. 

Changing course his hard but time is what reveals the kinds of differences that are meaningful. 

A book doesn’t write itself in a day but essay by essay over what feels like eons.

If life is just a bunch of content that pulls us through this river faster than ever, what helps to change course for ourselves is creating reminders of our best intentions. 

Create checklists, write down what you’re grateful for each day, even if it’s just the ability to breathe. 

Put post-its on your monitor reminding you of your goals, have a vision board, but also include reminders to be easy on yourself for when you don’t get what you want. 

Your values are what you look at on your way to your goals and when you don’t get what you want then your values better be worth valuing or you’re going to feel drained of your mental budget trying to keep up.

Reminding yourself to slow down isn’t a sign of putting in less effort but understanding the basic speed law: you must never drive faster than is safe for present conditions, regardless of the posted speed limit. 

Case in point, if you’re feeling tired then have the awareness to recognize yourself as tired and ease off the gas pedal a bit. 

Life doesn’t have to be at a constant rush hour pace just to feel like you are living it because you are living it right now, so breathe a little more and give yourself some reminders to breathe time and again. 

It doesn’t matter what you do insomuch as how you’re doing it. 

It doesn’t matter what you accomplish if you’re tired, hangry, and an asshole as a result of bogging yourself down.

Get with the flow and let go, bro.