"The function of music is to release us from the tyranny of conscious thought.
" ~ Sir Thomas Beecham Oh, how we get tangled up in our thoughts.
Yes, we can think some pretty great stuff.
And we also hold on to some thoughts that don't do us any good at all.
Was it Dr.
Seuss who said, "Oh, the thinks you can think?!" (Or was it my mom?) I take that to mean, "Holy cow! Look at all your wonderful ideas! Look at that imagination! That creativity! Yes! Yes! Go and do!" Yet we do have a lot of thinks running through our thinker, and some of those thinks are tyrants of fear and worry.
They chant, "You can't do this.
Who do you think you are?" When those thoughts clamp down on you and you feel heavy, turn on the tunes.
Yes, play some funky music, white boy.
Black girl, Brown boy.
Whatever-color-gender, friend, play some music.
Music is magic.
I cannot explain its powers, I just know it works.
I don't examine it.
I don't debate it.
I don't over-analyze.
I simply put something on the turn table and let it spin.
Yes, I have a turn table and vinyl.
I still have cassettes too.
My CD collection is like a bunch of teddy bears, hidden in the closet, there at the ready when I need them.
When you are feeling stuck, tired, overwhelmed, mad, or any thought that has its tyrannical hold on you, release it with music.
The beauty is that you get to choose what works for you.
In one of my joy life coaching programs, I do mandate that my ladies force themselves to dance around to Shania Twain's "Up," but that is just to get the wheels turning.
Song selection after that is up the beholder.
This morning I had to practice what I preach.
I was not feeling confident or peppy.
The tyranny of my conscious thoughts was making me feel less than competent.
I forced myself to put on Shania.
Not an easy thing to do when you feel like crap and you don't consider yourself a fan.
It's like any other kind of exercise.
You make yourself do it, and you feel so much better after.
Music soothes the savage beast and the beast is our thoughts.
Our thoughts are not always particularly kind to us.
One tool we have is that of music.
It penetrates our brains and musically massages the clump of thoughts tangled up in there to work out that tension.
The result is a calmer, saner you.
You return to the task at hand with a renewed perspective.
You can indeed to whatever it is that looms before you.
The project is not as mammoth, and you are feeling more equipped to take each step of the way.
When you feel yourself buckling under the tyranny of your thoughts, turn to your tunes.
Have some that you know lift you.
Have some that you know will calm you.
Are you wired tight, ready to pop? Pick from your playlist and unwind.
Are you laying on your bed feeling like a lump of "I can't do this"? Select a song that stimulates.
This requires effort on your part.
You have to lift a finger and push play.
Jon Roland writes, "Tyranny is usually thought of as cruel and oppressive, and it often is, but the original definition of the term was rule by persons who lack legitimacy.
" Well, isn't that telling? Our thoughts that make us feel "less than" in any way shape or form lack legitimacy! They may feel powerful as they bounce around with the other thoughts in our heads, but they are not legit.
There are many ways to combat the tyranny of our thoughts.
The first step is to recognize when we have them.
The second step is to do something to counteract.
Today's tip to show who truly is the boss is the power of music.
(And The Boss is on many a playlist.
) William Congreve's quote states: "Music hath charms to soothe the savage breast, to soften rocks, or bend the knotted oak.
" Let it soften the rocks in your head, soothe you, and unknot the twisty thoughts that tie you up.
Bob Marley said, "One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain.
" When you are feeling the pain of your thoughts, ease them with a tonic of tunes.
As Shania sings, "Nowhere to go but up from here.
"