The Maze
The metaphor of a frustrated rat scrambling in all directions to find a way out of the maze and into freedom is identifiable and applicable for most of us living in industrial areas of the world. We have been culturally and societally programmed to join the “rat race” in order to get ahead and surround ourselves with all the accoutrements that prove a successful life. We have embraced the idea that we have to live and work a certain way in order to look productive, effective, lucrative, and well-off. Does the slogan “Keeping up with the Jones's” feel familiar, descriptive, accurate, honest? For most, the answer would be “yes.”
Take a Moment
When I was young and needed to find an answer, solution, or new idea I would push myself into near frenzy to force my mind into creative productivity. The harder I forced, the longer it took me to achieve the goal. This always puzzled me. At a certain time in my mid-adult life, it occurred to me that when I put myself in this over-zealous state my mind actually stopped working as normal, and my body took the toll of the overdrive. I began to notice that when my mind was in such a frantic state my breathing would quicken, sweat became profuse, heart rate sped up, stomach churned, nerves on edge, and creativity numb. It became apparent that every single time I attempted to force a solution, the solution would evade me. Slowly, as I learned to give myself a break, put the project on the backburner and relaxed with something easy and pleasant for a while, my mind softened and ideas and solutions emerged almost magically.
Changing Your Mind
The metaphors we rely not only reflect the way we live, it creates the way we live. When people around us verbally repeat and physically live the “Keeping up with the the Jones’s” allegory they normally live life as though in an unknowable maze. Life unfolds before us according to what we believe about it. The irony is that the more we think about what we don’t want, that’s exactly what we end up getting. Physicists aren’t certain how this happens, yet they know for certain that it does. Becoming aware when we are mentally repeating and living the rat race, we give ourselves the opportunity to cancel out the old thought and replace it with a new one that better serves our purpose. Then, believe it or not, the once dreaded mazes of life stir within us a renewed way of thinking that actually increases interest, curiosity, enjoyment, and perhaps even fun.
“The words I have written above may feel redundant, and perhaps even boring. However, it never hurts to be reminded of good mental health practices because most of us agree with them, yet forget, or chose not to, actually apply those teachings and practices into our daily lives. ”