Confusion is a kind of psychic traffic jam in the mind, often manifesting itself at the onset of some challenging moment. And while we usually blame this interior tangle on conditions outside of us, the facts—once revealed—tell another story.
Confusion is an inside job. It is caused by the simultaneous appearance of disparate, often conflicting thoughts and feelings all vying with each other for command of our mind and heart.
Picture a grid of roads with several cars in each lane coming from all four directions at once; all are backed up in the middle of a major intersection because the traffic lights have failed. As the pressure to get moving builds, each driver begins shouting to the others to get out of the way because he is sure how to get traffic moving again.
This illustration depicts well what happens within us whenever life asks us to take some action or understand some difficult situation and no clear route to do so appears at the same time. Almost instantly, different parts of us—each with distinct reasons for wanting what they do, and often in contradiction with one another—leap into the middle of the mental intersection and begin to fight with one another over the best way to untie the internal tie-up.
The key here to keeping yourself out of all such interior jams is to understand that none of these competing thoughts and feelings, and their attending strong sense of self, can undo the confusion you feel because each one of these characters is secretly a part of it.
The clearer you can see the truth of this interior condition, the easier it becomes to rise above it and pull yourself out of all that jam. Your reward is seeing that there’s always another road waiting for you to take it—and that “high” way is always open.
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