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In the Steps of the Centipede
Once upon a time, there was a centipede who regularly passed
through the main street of a small village. Every day, the villagers ensured
they were at the windows of their houses to watch his progress.
He coordinated
his fifty pairs of legs with the grace of a ballet dancer, and the precision of
a goose-stepping soldier. He wore natty boots on each foot.
One day, the
villagers couldn’t contain their curiosity any longer, and decided to ask the
centipede how he managed this amazing feat. As he explained, he became totally
confused, and his legs collapsed underneath him. He never got up again.
The
centipede had fallen prey to the curse of the hyper thinker. We’re more prone
to this curse than we realize. Thoughts fizz and buzz in our minds so much that
we become incapable of action. Put simply, we over
think.
When we hyper
think, we become “navel gazers,” agonizing over every facet of our lives,
little or large. Our thoughts are a thick soup, made of past memories, future
plans, scraps of songs or useless information. The effect is of a constant
hurry and turmoil, a sense that we can never catch up with ourselves.
This becomes
our normality. Thinking this way has become a habit. In fact, it can even
become an addiction. We are held in the grip of our minds, and cling to this
swirling mass of thoughts to give us a sense of identity.
In fact,
this way of thinking limits us. It stifles our natural creativity. The path to
communication in relationships can be blocked, as we agonize over what to say.
Loving ourselves can become a chore as we hatch self-improvement schemes.
Overall, we suffer from “paralysis by analysis.”
There are
times though, when we get glimpses of a different way of thinking. We
experience a quiet sense of certainty. Our minds are clear, and we know exactly
the right action to take. There are various names for this phenomenon. Some
call it a “gut feeling,” some, the soul; others call it the true self. We know
when we’re operating through our true selves, because our thoughts work for us, rather than
against us.
We come up
with clever one-liners in conversations, we’re full of ideas at work, we deal
appropriately and promptly with people who insult us, and we remember things we
didn’t realize we knew.
There’s more
of a flow in our lives; actions flow naturally from our thoughts. We are
confident that we are doing the right thing, and we build more faith in
ourselves. We see things exactly as they are. This creates a heightened
awareness of the world around us, enabling us to see things more clearly.
It’s not
that we stop thinking-we need to think so we can fulfill our roles in life-but
we can channel our thoughts, to make them more effective. Our thinking is
logical, and based on our true selves, which somehow always know the answers.
When we
think like this, we’re actually operating from a still place above thought. The
ingredient is that we’re in the present. Thinking this way leads to positive
action.
The
centipede was like this. He did what was natural to him. His only thoughts were
in connection with the action he was undertaking. However, as soon as he began
to analyze what he was doing, his true self was inhibited, leaving him unable
to act.
When we drop
the hyper thinker mode, all we have left is our true selves. This can seem a
bit scary; we may put up barriers of resistance. Yet ultimately, we are opened
up to an inner voice, which will bring harmony into our lives.
Derbhile Dromey is a freelance writer and journalist
based in Ireland. She has been published in a number
of magazines and Web sites, and her work has also
appeared in a number of local creative writing
anthologies.
Email: Derbhile Dromey
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