The Troublemaker You Know!

When you think about the troublemaker in your life

you might immediately think about your next-door neighbor Max, who never picks up the dog doo-doo left on your yard. Or you might be thinking about your brother Roy who shows up drunk to every family event. You might go so far as to think about your co-worker Sam for whom you have to constantly pick up the slack. And you might be right, they might all be troublemakers. But the troublemaker to which I’m referring is even closer to you than that.The troublemaker I’m talking about is so close to you, you may not even perceive him as such. You’ve been living with him your entire life. This said troublemaker is your MIND! It can mess you up and mess you up bad.

Mind is the worst troublemaker you will ever know

It has no boundaries, no filter. It can say what it wants when it wants to and not be the least bit apologetic. It can convince you to jump off a bridge by telling you that there’s no point in going on. It can make you feel small by telling you that you’re not lovable or worthy of love. It can lie to you and make up stories; stories that will make you sad, make you doubt yourself, keep you stuck by the fear he provokes. Then in the next breath, after the damage has been done, he can change the story and make everything all right again.

At this point, some of your relationships may have been damaged

Let’s say, for example, that your friend Joanie is supposed to pick you up at 3:00 p.m. to take you to a movie. At 3:10 you become concerned. By 3:15 you start to get upset and worried that you might miss the movie. By 3:30, Mind has taken an active role in your life. “Can you believe Joanie? She’s always late. No surprise that she’s late again. Now I’ll miss the movie. No way am I sitting in the front row. Well, screw her. I’ll just go by myself!” Mind has done a great job at turning you against Joanie. And it only took half an hour. At 3:50, Joanie calls and tells you she’s sorry, but that she’d stopped to get you that book you had been wanting and there was a huge check out line. Then she got stuck in traffic. She’s on her way and you guys can catch the 4:30 showing.