A Reminder
Photo from weheartit.com
I’m the kind of girl who wonders, who ponders, who thinks, who theorizes. I once was walking through Toronto’s Chinatown with my friend, and looking up and seeing the web of cables belonging to the streetcars hanging above the intersection, I turned to her and asked, “Doesn’t that look like a protective net to catch giants falling from the sky?” After some giggles, later I would ask about the cables, “Doesn’t everyone else think that?” The conclusive answer was along the lines of no. I don’t think anyone had ever suggested to her before the streetcar cables being large, bouncy nets to catch giants.
I think this goes to show how uniquely vast our minds are. Often our minds align with one another, but the other fraction of the time, I think our minds are covering massive ground running through the depths of imagination. Maybe there’s even some rousing music playing in the background, too. It’s magical, where our minds go, when we let them.
While it’s easy to get carried away with some wild thoughts, I think it’s just as easy to get carried away with the negativities. I’ve been well acquainted with doubt, and hesitation, and self-consciousness. Bad, gnawing things. The worst is when they’re not even consuming feelings, but little taps on the windows of your mind, incessant, unrelenting taps. And that feeling starts to elbow its way through, taking up more space than is welcome. “What if, what if, what if.”
A reminder: it’s your mind. The beauty in this is that you’re the one who’s thinking your thoughts. That means stopping the negative thoughts is in the act of simply not thinking them. Easier said than done, but the instruction is still sound. Think good thoughts. When you crack your eyes open and you realize it’s Monday, and the week’s to-dos come crashing down in a single wave, think good thoughts. When those strangers on the street think there’s reason to make fun of your choice in hairstyle/clothing/badassery, think good thoughts—and then think even more good thoughts, on their behalf, since karma won’t be doing them any favours. When you start looking back on the woulda-coulda-shoulda and dwell on it, think good thoughts.
A few of my favourites, to serve as a reminder:
- Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.
- You are exactly where you need to be.
- What is meant for you will never miss you, and what misses you was never meant for you.
- Everything you can imagine is real.