Imagine this: you’re a lawyer. You wake up, pour a cup of coffee, greet your kids, and head out the door, ready for an important sales meeting at work. You stayed up late, prepping notes, planning how to address objections, perfecting slides—all the details lined up.
And then, the car won’t start.
Instantly, a wave of anxiety begins. “Will I make it on time?” “Will I look rattled if I’m late?” Then the questions build: “What’s wrong with the car?” “Will I need a mechanic?” “Can I even trust a mechanic?” And then the deeper worries creep in: “What if this costs thousands and disrupts my family’s plans?” “Should I have serviced it sooner?” “Am I irresponsible?”
The questions keep spiraling, fueled by doubt, guilt, and self-blame. And the more you try to answer, the more overwhelming it all feels. The sheer impossibility of solving all these questions is what creates intense mental tension.
Here’s the heart of it:
Stress and anxiety thrive on complexity. The more sensitive or neurotic we are, the more complex our minds make each situation, mapping out every possible pitfall that “needs” to be solved. But not everything needs solving.
Our brain, like a prediction machine, constantly scans for tools and obstacles to guide us. Tools are things, people, or situations that help us. Obstacles are what we perceive as blocking us. Everything else? It’s invisible—our mind ignores it to save energy.
When complexity spikes, it signals our map is out of date. For example, a broken car means we’ll need to expend new energy to get to work, plus additional resources (money, time) to fix or even replace it. Energy preservation is a primal drive, so these new demands create stress.
In this scenario, the car is usually invisible to us—a vehicle we take for granted to get to work—until it breaks down and monopolizes our focus as The Obstacle.
The same happens with everything we take for granted and treat as invisible—our health, our relationships with family, our job security—until they “break down.” Then, they emerge front and center, occupying our full attention, becoming all we can think about.
The Path to Mental Clarity:
Simplify the Complexity. Rather than unravel every question, start by addressing the immediate issue: get to work, assess the car later. This step can be hard for those prone to negative thinking, as the mind resists staying on the immediate.
Detach from Mental Overload. Practicing mindfulness lets us observe these mental spirals instead of getting lost in them. Often, complexity is an illusion—many problems do not require immediate resolution.
Through awareness, we begin to see that not every question deserves an answer, and not every obstacle deserves our energy.
What do you think, dear reader?
How do you navigate complexity and manage stress in your life?
Philippos