Focus.

Breathe.

I know how it feels. The world is rushing through you. Maybe you're nervous, maybe you're restless, maybe you're just lost amongst your thoughts. I close my eyes and I see what you see. Garbled thoughts of all of the things that need to be done, all of the things you still have to do. There's so much that has stacked up around you.

Some of it might be your fault: you put off assignments and now you're paying for it, and some of it might be unavoidable. You separate yourself from your work and are no longer capable of focusing. It becomes unbearable and you lose yourself in the distractions of your Mind Palace to escape the unshakable thought that if you don't wake up on time, you'll fail that class, or if you don't get your work done, you'll lose your job. All of the pressures are still there, but you avoid them, dodging them like bullets in "The Matrix." You're alone with your thoughts, and reality is far behind.

But if you're like me, your mind palace becomes a prison. All of the things that have been building up are screaming at you and you lock yourself away and close your ears. You try to distract yourself, but their voices are too loud. So you decide to face them, attempting to get the door open. But you cannot. You locked yourself up so tightly in the chasms of your mind, it's no longer possible to escape upon your own volition. And that's when chaos overwhelms you. You lose your capacity to work. Your thoughts are so crowded and are moving so quickly that you can no longer apply them to reality. They wrap around you and squeeze you and you can't stop them, and you give into their whims and try to silence them with petty distractions: mindless entertainment, unnecessary naps, etc. This keeps them hushed, but the moment the distraction is gone, they scream even louder, as you've lost valuable time.

This is how it feels to have too much in your mind. Normally, it's manageable. You've learned to filter the necessary from the unnecessary. But stress blocks the filter and overflows it. I know all of this because I've been there. Many times. In fact, I'm there right now. I don't have all the answers. I don't think that there's a clear answer. The greatest struggle is that this isn't an excuse to the normal world. We're expected to live up to a certain standard, and we can give so many lame excuses for why assignments and projects weren't completed on time or up to the necessary qualifications. So we must learn to handle our minds so that we can create lives for ourselves that are prosperous, despite how much our heads try and hold us back by pushing us too far forward.

With all of this being said, I want to come to you with advice. I can't give you an answer that will be an end-all-be-all, but I can tell you some of the weapons I use to fight the chaos. The most important thing I've learned is to find an anchor. Something to grab onto. When I close my eyes and let my mind engulf me, it feels like I'm floating, rising from the ground. I need something to hold onto to keep me there. This could be a thought that overwhelms you and brings you into a stable place, where you can embrace the normalcy that evades you so much. This could be closing your eyes and letting the thought of someone you love overwhelm you, like a significant other or spouse. Drowning yourself in their image and the peace that you feel when you're with them, letting them bring you back to Earth, even if they aren't with you. It could be a drink that calms you, soothes you to the point of concentration, like a warm cup of tea or hot chocolate.

One of the most important anchors in my life is my keyboard. Letting your thoughts speak is a good way to streamline them. You can only write so fast, and you can only write one line at a time. This forces you to think linearly, and gives you a springboard to accomplish the tasks you need to take care of. As a Christian, one of the anchors that is most effective is God. The Bible is a good place to ground yourself, to find solace and peace that no one else can give you. These are examples, but each of us is different. You must find what anchors can ground you in order to live a socially acceptable life. But even though you must latch onto something to land on the ground and participate in normal life, remember that the very thing that holds you back sets you apart. You are special. Gifted. Everyone can learn to walk, but there are few that can learn to fly.

So don't be afraid to let your mind soar.