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Temptation of Thought

1 min
Poem  ✺  Well being
Photo by Kenny Eliason

Oh how I loathe you.

Oh how I love you.

A whimsical idea

Up in my mind,

Like a fantastical video game world,

They sweep me out of the present moment

And into the cloud of history

Or the future full of mystery.

Sometimes that is more appealing

Than the present moment

And perennial uncertainty.

My gratitude for words overflows.

They clear up confusion

About experiences in this world.

Each word is a thought.

Though, simultaneously,

the limitations to language are vast.

It infuriates me.

How can I make sense of life?

What does it mean to understand,

If I do not have language to explain?

All I really have in each moment

Is this breath

Inhaling then exhaling

Right now.

Yet,

That usually does not feel like enough.

There is a temptress of the swirling thoughts in my mind,

Whether they are positive or negative,

They are there.

There’s no ignoring that fact.

I choose today not to be a prisoner

As tempting as these thoughts are.

My thoughts are in my body.

My feelings are in my mind.

Are thoughts and feelings

That separate after all?

I act as if they are polar opposites

As different verbs.

As one or the other.

Truth be told,

I am lying to myself.

I wish to live more present from now on.

It’s not easy.

For twenty-six years,

The world has been my thoughts.

Today I awaken

As the thinker of those thoughts.

They do not define me.

I tend to the garden to guide my thoughts

Nurture the ones that ground my experience

Rather than a ruthless tug-of-war game.

We work together.

Body and mind.

We are one.

Afterall.

Next

Burning the Candle at Both Ends

Burning the Candle at Both Ends

Unknowing Myself

Unknowing Myself

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