This post was originally published on 24th November 2018 and updated on 3rd August 2019.

One of the reasons I created The Mindful Musings of a Gingernut, was to offload some of the things running around my mind, in the hope that it would free up some space, and in turn, help me to process some of my thoughts in a more productive way.

Since creating the blog, writing things down has certainly helped me to reflect and to start to understand some of the jumbled chaos in my noddle.

However, I tend to find that when my mind is in overdrive, I become too scared to put pen to paper.

Sometimes there are things going on in life that I so badly want to write about, but I fear my openness will offend or upset people, or I am simply making myself vulnerable by publicly opening up about things.

Yet I know that to be able to write during these times would help me to process what is going on and to move forwards with a much free’er, clearer mind.

I found the quote below some time ago. It really resonated with me at the time, and it continues to ring true today:

This message felt particularly close to me when my relationship was starting to break down last year. I had so much I wanted to say. I knew how I felt, and that things were not as they should be. Yet, saying things out loud, was a whole other story. Saying things out loud makes things real. Sometimes, we struggle to find the right time to say things. Other times, there is no right time. But we still have to find the courage to say things out loud and to make those thoughts and feelings a reality.

It would’ve been so easy to write things down instead. But sometimes writing things down is not enough. We owe it to the people we care about to talk to them face to face, no matter how difficult it may be.

One of my favourite bloggers, The Wellbeing Blogger, posted on Instagram last year about ‘Patience’ as part of her Free 7 day Mindfulness Training programme. Her words really struck me: “Sometimes things don’t go as we wish them too. Other times they happen in a different timeline…we need to have patience and we need to let things unfold in their own time…All that is meant to be will be”

Whilst in my mind, I knew this to be true, it also made my heart thump against my chest in a moment of panic.

What if by being patient, we miss an opportunity?

What if the opportunity to say things out loud has been and gone?

What if we were so busy being patient and waiting for the right moment, that we missed the moment?

Or, is that moment out of our hands?

Maybe we don’t need to wait for the right moment to say something. Maybe other things will happen that will naturally lead us onto the right path?

That seems to put quite a lot in the hands of fate.

However, taking a chance on fate, is sometimes the only thing you can do.

How do you cope when your mind is in overdrive?

Do you ever become fearful of writing for fear of being too honest?

What helps you to say things out loud rather than hiding behind a blog, or a journal?

I would love to hear from you.

The Mindful Gingernut