Not everything needs analysis. Sometimes you don't need to "figure it out."

Problems in life are infinite, and our time is finite. Every problem we choose to solve draws from our finitude.

The mind may protest, dragging us again and again into thought loops. It may replay our mistakes, our fantasies, all the what-ifs and conditionals and possibilities.

Remember that the brain is its own beast—classically a great servant but terrible master. The wild horse may terrorize the pasture of your life. The tamed one can help you traverse your kingdom.

I am no stranger to the overactive mind. Even this morning I woke with thoughts racing by 4:30 AM—half about work, half about a conversation I wish I’d handled differently. The animal got loose.

But unlike my younger, less experienced self, I now know how to work with the beast. Sometimes it is as simple as putting an eye mask on and earplugs in. Other times it's focusing on the breath like a meditation. Yet other times it is getting to the keyboard, to let the beast roam and tire itself out.

A key reminder: who we are is not our mind. The closest to our true self lies in the seat of awareness. It is the inner navigator, the one who directs the mind and the body. The one who observes our thoughts but is not of our thoughts.

The mind will continue to shout its narratives and red-flag whatever feels most pressing. The anxieties. The malice. The depression. They may spur this creature into a frenzy, one where it needs to "solve" whatever problem it is facing.

Sometimes, you must let the beast run itself ragged in the field, until it tires. Other times, it just needs a hand on the reins.

Sometimes there is no solving. Whether it's the death of a loved one, the loss of an opportunity, or simply a sleepless night—overthinking is not the best steed to move us through these problems.

Sometimes the best solution is no solution.

Sometimes it is simply a return to the breath, waiting for the weather to change.

You don’t have to outrun the storm. Just guide the steed home.