"Relax," I thought. "Nothing makes it harder to relax than telling yourself to relax!" I scolded myself. "Any better ideas, you know-it-all?" I shot back. "Breathe in, breathe out," I tried. "Great, now we are breathing like a machine," I mocked. With every exchange, I felt the knot tighten. I rolled over in bed. "Try thinking of something else," I advised myself. An image of the bathroom sink came to mind. The drain had a knot of its own—water was backing up in the sink. "I really need to get that fixed," I thought with a sigh. I imagined unclogging the drain. Water flowed freely through it. Clean water, soapy water, dirty water. Some of it might be unpleasant, but what mattered was that it kept flowing. And somehow, that image brought me relief. Nobody said it would always be easy or joyful, but perhaps thoughts were like water. They just needed to keep flowing. The knot loosened a little. A few minutes later, I fell asleep.
Had to unclog this one a few times—unpleasant business.
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