Wiped

Did you ever wish you could wipe the thoughts from your head, even just temporarily? It's an attractive thought--it would mean not having to remember our setbacks or stress about the situations we can't change. It would mean sleeping when we need to sleep and focusing when we need to focus. It would mean not allowing reminiscing about the past or anticipating the future to intrude upon acting on the now. It would make so many things easier.

Most of us, however, are not built that way. We can't just turn off our concerns about our day in order to sleep in preparation for tomorrow. We can't just pretend that our yesterdays didn't happen, just because we are now removed from them. And, though I'd like it be easier to sleep when I want to and move ahead when I'd like, I realize that I accomplish because I let my mind work when it needs to. I can face moving toward the future because I use what I learned in the past.

All of the thoughts and worries and plans can make it hard to sleep, leaving me, well, wiped. But without them, I am just a fraction of what they make me. And re-learning what they have to teach me could be pretty exhausting. So, I keep them. I own them. And, when necessary, I shelve them, but only temporarily. Because in the end, there's not so much to gain from being wiped.