daily post challenge #204: does your mind go blank…when you close your eyes?

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Illustration depicting thought.

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Heck no!!! My mind has never been blank. At least not that I can recall. I remember very vividly asking my husband of only a few months what he was thinking as we lay in the dark, after going to bed. “Nothing,” He replied. “Nothing?” I asked, incredulous. “That’s impossible. You must be thinking about something.” “Nope.” Came the retort. I think I tried to convince him that he must be thinking something, but to no avail.

Imagine that ? A mind free of clutter. Free of yesterdays, todays, and tomorrow’s stuff. No lint to pick off one’s brain. Totally clear and unemcumbered. Like an “in” tray on a secretary’s desk, cleared out and ready for the next day’s tasks.

Regal Cinemas 24

Image by marklarson via Flickr

Meanwhile my brain is like a Regal Cinema with several theatres running the latest films concurrently. The difference is I often run the same movie over and over again. It could be an event that makes me feel warm and fuzzy, or one that has me pondering the “what ifs.” Only in recent years, with my husband’s patient reminder that I shouldn’t worry about something over which I have no control, and Dr. Daniel Amen’s advice that negative thoughts are at the heart of our mental undoing, have I opted to shut down the movie reels when I finally lay me down to sleep.

Regal Cinemas

Image by _rockinfree via Flickr

Of course that doesn’t prevent dreams, sometimes even discombobulated nightmares, from awaking me in the middle of the night, or early morning, making it difficult for me to fall back to sleep. And then the reruns begin. But I try to pick and choose. If my mind has to run flicks nonstop, then they’ll have to pass the “G” rating…only family attractions allowed and, of course, always in technicolor. No blood, no gore, no violence…only happy endings…and happy-in-betweens.

if i can’t beat ’em…and i have to join ’em…then it’s going to be…on my terms…hugmamma.

19 thoughts on “daily post challenge #204: does your mind go blank…when you close your eyes?”

  1. Pingback: daily post challenge: talker’s block? writer’s block? « hugmamma's MIND, BODY and SOUL

  3. It sounds similar in my home…my mind is wayyyyyyy too busy…I meditate and work very hard at learning to not involve myself in my own negative thoughts, and so it is considerably quieter than it used to be, but still a long way to go…while my husband seems to have a calm and quiet mind… I’m always surprised when he says his mind isn’t full of thoughts or reactions or worries!

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    • Don’t you just wish that once our hubbies could experience our busy brains? Just once. I wouldn’t wish my insomnia on anyonelse, for any length of time. Although as you say, I’m getting sooo much better at quieting the beast within… 🙂

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    • I don’t think so. Even when he’s awake, my husband’s pretty sedate. Seems the only thing on his mind, most of the time, is work. No room for anythingelse. Also, he use to be a Catholic seminarian, so I think he learned the art of meditation at a very young age.

      maybe i should’ve been a Catholic nun…at least for a short while…don’t think i would’ve lasted long… 😉

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  5. I agree with you that’s it’s impossible to turn off the mind. I think we can slow it’s pace at times, when we’re trying to get into our “Happy Place” as you mentioned. For me, too, is the challenge to make my wandering mind think of something productive. I even say to myself, “Dan, why don’t you think of something useful. Instead of…”

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    • It’s not easy, but as I said I’m inclined to try real hard to make my mind a blank so I’ll fall asleep at night. Insomnia is a contributor to health problems, including Alzheimer’s. So whatever it takes…I try. And so far…

      so good… 🙂

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    • But can you turn off your mind at bedtime? I was just telling my daughter today how I can’t take naps. Once I’m up, I’m up. The day is too short for me to do all that I want to do. Then at night when my body is totally spent, my brain is thinking of more things to do…or reviewing what I’ve done that day. I’m getting better…

      but it’s not a breeze…that’s for sure… 🙂

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  6. Happy Birthday Hugmamma! And, may you have many, many more happy birthdays! Myfanwy let it slip that you’re UmptyOo years old. I am too. Take care. -Theresa

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  7. My mind is far calmer since I learned to meditate and become mindful of my thoughts.

    “A quiet mind, like the surface of a still pond, provides a more accurate reflection.”

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hugs for sharing some brief thoughts...and keeping them positive