Our brains have been hard-wired and our minds deeply conditioned to think and problem solve. Historically, we have survived, adapted, and evolved with an architecture and circuitry of a brain networked to receive sensory impulses for immediate processing- mainly for self-protection and preservation. There is significant angst and unrest when events of mind are left unfinished or unresolved. We have learned and aspire to put closure to things regardless of whether it is most appropriate for the situation or not. Our mental commentary might stream something like…  It’s done… let’s move on… there’s so much to do… and I am so busy and so preoccupied to leave this unfinished and hanging around my consciousness.

Using awareness we are able to disconnect from our mind’s problem-solving circuitry, and allow our consciousness to unfold into the emptiness of our “pause”- the “space” between our stimulus and response. Here we are free to spontaneously embrace a shift from doing to non-doing. It is here that we are allowing our brain and our mind the opportunity to learn a new way of being, which is calmer, quieter, and more stable.

It is here and now that we can learn to “see in new & fresh ways”- a state of mind where experiences are taking on a whole new look as the “thinking self” is relaxing and shifting into the “observing self”. In awareness, the observing self abides in openness, uncertainty, and the unknown as what we may regard as “unfinished business” is left to teach us more about how “to see” and less how “to think”. With ‘clear seeing’– the awareness of the observing self- we begin to see the influence spawned from our fabrications of mind to have and complete more. We can recognize and acknowledge the strength and power of our habits and conditioning to fuel and sustain our self-absorbed accomplishments.

It is the higher energy of awareness that allows us to penetrate and transmute the impulsive forces underlying our habit energy to be less driving, controlling, wanting, grasping, and expecting to “close” what may need to remain open- and to continue to unfold revealing the inherent “truth” behind our experiences.

It’s not that “unfinished business” remains unattended as the unresolved happenings of our consciousness are observed and examined openly in our field of awareness. The difference here is in how we “attend”- our underlying intention to “see clearly”- and the disposition we foster in our “seeing” of what is directly happening. It is having the courage and patience to let be and to let unfold in a more spontaneous and natural manner- to reveal to us how we may best respond both flexibly and adaptively.

Habitually, we are creatures called to constant action- doing, fixing, and finishing what we start. It takes much patience, practice, and even fortitude in our mindfulness training to relax in the face of what compels most of our waking attention to finish, complete, and resolve. Often we cannot just “stay with it” or “sit with it” as we are routinely overwhelmed and ultimately swept away by our recurring urges and impulses to be quickly reactive rather than patiently adaptive.

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