Ping Pong Balls in my Mind

My mind is like a ping pong ball. Well, maybe it's more like there are ping pong balls in my mind, constant thoughts swirling, twirling and crashing against one another in my mind. Or so the hypnotist says.

Tonight I went to see the hypnotist to see if she could help me learn some healthier eating and exercise habits. After speaking with her for about 15 minutes, she told me that it was as if I have ping pong balls bouncing around in my mind. "No wonder you can't focus enough to commit your mind to making you practice healthy habits," she said. "Living a healthy lifestyle is more about your mind than anything else. When you can't calm and focus your mind on a goal, you will fall flat on your face".

I used to think that my mind was more like a chess board or a chess game. My mind is constantly running and playing out every possible scenario to everything in my life. "If you do x, then z will happen. In order to help you deal with z, then do y", it whispers to itself all day long. And it's not just about one topic. It's as if strategic plays for 25 different topics are constantly pinging around all day. No wonder why I feel so mentally exhausted by the end of evening.

About seven years ago a counselor told me something similar. He happened to mention that he thought perhaps I was a little bit bipolar, but without the depression and down time. He thought I had a slight bit of manic thinking. "But it's also what has made you professionally and financially successful. It's also what might make you sort of artistic and philosophical. I'd hate to give you medicine that might make you feel as if you're walking around in a fog". Instead, he recommended that I snap myself with a rubber band around my wrist if I noticed lots of thoughts in my mind. I never did it of course.

Tonight the hypnotist put me into a trance (I think). I'm trying to have an open mind, but I suppose that I have traditionally thought about a trance as if I am unconscious and easily suggestible. I just sat and listened to her. But then suddenly my mind started to calm the ping pong balls that I had etched into my mind and instead I just wanted to calm down and focus on tons of bright swirling lights that made me happy. Tonight my mind now feels more calm and centered.

Maybe it's the placebo effect. Maybe hypnotism does work. Or maybe it doesn't. All I know is that it forced me to sit in a chair, listening to a calm voice while I calmed and settled my mind. And that is all that really matters.