Handling Confusion – Part 1

Even though you may be in a chaos, on the edge, in the middle, over the top, spaced out, freaked out, or in the void, there are things you can do to take advantage of the circumstances.

Get into it. Admit you are totally confused.

Write your feelings in your life changes journal, or speak privately into a tape recorder. Talk about how awful you feel. Tell God you’re upset. Tell Her what your problem is. Get it out. Throw a fit. Cry. Get mad. Write down on a sheet of paper all the things that are bugging you, ball it up, and throw it into the trash or burn it in your fireplace. Stay with this process until you quiet down.

Notice where the tension is in your body.

If possible lie face-down on a quiet, clean, grassy spot. A large, smooth boulder is even better. If you have to stay inside, lie on the floor. The point is to put your belly onto the earth. Visualize all the heavy feelings you are carrying in your body draining down into the earth. According to Peruvian traditions, the earth is our mother, and she loves all that heavy energy, so let it drain away. Then once you’ve emptied out, find something beautiful, inspiring, and calming to look at. Draw in that “refined.” Beautiful energy and fill yourself up.

You can also imagine sending some peaceful, clear, white light into that spot. If you are auditory by nature, try talking peacefully and lovingly to any places of tension as if you were talking to a small upset child. Or you might try turning on your favorite soothing and uplifting music and imagine the music bathing that area.

Running, walking, or working out will work wonders when you’re feeling confused. Yoga stretches are perhaps the best of all for calming the mind. Your goal is to disconnect from the swirling thoughts and recenter in your physical body to establish a calm, grounded feeling.

Assume there is a purpose to your present state of chaos.

Something in you is changing. You are shedding an old skin. Unexpected change can bring a delicious new day, new possibilities, no matter where we are on our journeys. Anything is possible.

If you need to make immediate decisions, write out all your concerns, options, fears, and hesitancies.

Create a visual map of the ideas, feelings, and questions that are going through your mind. Let’s say you are getting divorced and you don’t know if you should move out of town, quit your job that you’ve been unhappy with, go back to live with your parents, or just take a long trip to Mexico. There is a kind of natural organizing process that happens as you put things on paper. Start with your most urgent questions and feelings of confusion on the left side. List what you want or how you want to feel on the right side. Allow ideas to group into natural categories such as problems, people to call, letters to write, variables about which you need more information, and so on.