Many of us are familiar with racing thoughts that mess with the mind through the day.

Then they surround the brain like a cloud of gnats through the night.

I call this hamster wheel thinking, round and round and round, no resolution, twirling and whirling nowhere into infinity.

Often, racing thoughts seem to have no relevance, sometimes they’re about important things, often a mix of the two. It doesn’t matter.

When stress manifests within us, in clusters of bubbles, it doesn’t sit there and rate the caliber of your thoughts. Stress grows and blooms whenever and wherever you allow it to. It seems to have a free pass into your life.

People throw out many names for racing thoughts, including “The Itty Bitty Shitty Committee” or “Spinning Wheel.” Call this phenomenon whatever you want.

Bottom line, racing thoughts/stress bubbles are exhausting, hurling and dancing within us as they do. When you ignore them, they get worse. When you tell them to “Stop!” they don’t.

When stress bubbles lessen, ebb down to a quiet gurgle, and the mind seems unusually still, some of us worry more. That’s because many of us are attached to stress. We miss it when it’s not there. We have stress withdrawl pangs. We’re strange that way.

Stress bubbles can be our constant companions (we should take out shares in them.) They also tell us a lot about how we’re functioning in our world. They can teach us. They can shine a light on negative behaviours, lifestyles, relationships.

Are you paying attention to what they’re trying to tell you? Or are you frequently and (futilely) trying to swat them away, as you would an annoying fly?

Today, stop wondering why you’re surrounded by stress bubbles. You are. We all are.

Furthermore, if you feel trapped, smothered and overtaken by racing thoughts, there is much you can do to mitigate the frequency, duration and irritation associated with them. You need not be a prisoner on the hamster wheel. Remember, being proactive rather than reactive is what this web site is about. (More about easing the frantic workings of the mind in future blogs.)

In the meantime, try to accept the whirlings and twirlings of the brain. It is because you have a brain that this phenomenon occurs. Figure out, very gently, without judgement, what these racing thought marathons might be trying to ‘say’ about you, about the state your life.

That’s really all you have to start to do.

What racing thoughts do you regularly experience?

Are you aware that some of these ‘whirls and twirls’ are actually quite hilarious? A one-man entertainment show?

Let them in. For now.

In future posts I’ll be explaining how you can gently prompt them to take a hike.