Written by Have you ever been so worked up, so stressed out, that you just felt you had to run? Run in any direction at all. I don’t care where I end up because I can’t see it from where I am anyways. So you run. The wheels turn. The mind starts spinning at blurring speed. Thoughts turn over in your mind almost faster than you can process them. So you run. But you have no idea where you are going or even where you want to be once the run is done. In the meantime, as your mind, or even your legs, actually lead you further from the place you decided to run from, your mind slows its pace. Thoughts come easier. Thoughts come more clearly. Then the thought you wished wouldn’t show up; shows up on center stage, spotlight glaring, heat appears from nowhere like there’s a crowd in your mind, watching and waiting for your reaction to this single thought. The showstopper. What are you doing? As if you didn’t hear yourself, your mind, with a little hint of your own sarcasm retorts again. Seriously, What are you doing?
The reason it’s the showstopper is because you already knew the answer. You already knew that question, like the unwanted competition you have no answer for, at anything competitive, was gonna rear its ugly head and stop you in your tracks. Which, is the point of this piece, stop you in your tracks. As you fumble over your internal words on that mental stage with the glaring spotlight zeroed in on you as if your thoughts themselves were visible to the audience you put there yourself, you realize that running, taking action at all, was not necessary. You respond, drenched in shame, a human response which is completely unnecessary, but more importantly, you admit that you don’t know what you are doing. Fine. That happens to all of us. No action would have been far more effective. Sometimes when you feel totally stressed out, or that you are in a position you don’t feel like you can (or want) to deal with, you speed things up and your mind, in its rapid fire format you brought upon yourself, you think you must take action. And many times that means run from the situation. When in fact, you could have stayed put, let the action come to you, thought on your next step and direction, and been so much better off as a result. There are times when no action is the action best suited for the moment you’re faced with.