Ever wondered what happens when psychology meets riddles? I did, and the result is this strange and satisfying collection of 138 psychology riddles that bend your brain, challenge your thinking, and sneak a little insight into how the mind works.
These aren’t your average puzzles. Each one taps into a concept from cognitive science, emotion, behavior, personality, or the mysterious unconscious.
Some will make you think deeply. Others will make you smirk. A few might even leave you staring into space, questioning your own thoughts (don’t worry cos that’s normal).
Whether you’re a psych enthusiast, a student, or just a curious mind looking for something more stimulating than cat videos (barely), these riddles are designed to make you pause, and maybe even learn a thing or two while you’re at it.
So get ready to explore the quirks, habits, and hidden forces inside your mind. Let’s riddle our way through the psyche.
138 Psychology Riddles with Answers to trick your brain
1. I can trick you, comfort you, and even ruin your day, all without saying a word. What am I?
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Your thoughts
2. The more you try to forget me, the stronger I become. What am I?
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Repressed memory
3. I’m a bias that makes you believe you’re always right. What am I?
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Confirmation bias
4. I grow when you face your fears, and shrink when you avoid them. What am I?
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Courage
5. I appear when you can’t decide, but vanish once you commit. What am I?
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Indecision
6. I can mimic physical pain and yet exist entirely in your head. What am I?
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Psychosomatic symptoms
7. I can make time fly or drag, and I live only in your mind. What am I?
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Perception
8. I can be changed by a smile, a frown, or a memory. What am I?
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Mood
9. I’m learned, not inherited, and shape how you act in society. What am I?
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Social norms
10. I’m the silent force behind habits. What am I?
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Conditioning
11. What’s invisible, powerful, and controls behavior when you’re not even thinking?
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Unconscious mind
12. I live between stimulus and response. What am I?
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Thought
13. I’m the voice that criticizes everything you do, often sounding like someone from your past. What am I?
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Inner critic
14. What can make you sweat, panic, and freeze, all at once?
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Anxiety
15. I distort memories, make assumptions, and fill in blanks. What am I?
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The brain
16. I’m studied by Freud, debated by Jung, and questioned by modern science. What am I?
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The unconscious
17. I change how you act when others are watching. What am I?
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Social pressure
18. I’m a feeling you often ignore, but your body never forgets me. What am I?
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Trauma
19. I can convince you you’re a fraud, even if you’re an expert. What am I?
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Impostor syndrome
20. What fades with mindfulness but grows with rumination?
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Anxiety
21. I influence you without your awareness and guide your reactions. What am I?
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Implicit bias
22. I’m built by repetition, not decision. What am I?
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A habit
23. What is shaped by childhood, molded by relationships, and revealed in stress?
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Personality
24. I’m measured in IQ, but not always visible in success. What am I?
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Intelligence
25. I’m silent, invisible, and contagious. What am I?
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Emotion
26. I appear in stages and often after loss. What am I?
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Grief
27. I help you function under stress but exhaust you when prolonged. What am I?
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Adrenaline
28. I am where logic battles emotion. What am I?
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Decision-making
29. I’m the gap between how you see yourself and how others see you. What am I?
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Self-concept
30. I make people behave differently in groups than alone. What am I?
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Groupthink
31. I improve when praised and wither when ignored. What am I?
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Self-esteem
32. I develop through empathy and active listening. What am I?
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Emotional intelligence
33. I’m the fear of being judged. What am I?
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Social anxiety
34. I’m invisible but influence every interaction. What am I?
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Body language
35. I’m an irrational belief that shapes behavior. What am I?
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Cognitive distortion
36. I can make time stand still or speed up, depending on emotion. What am I?
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Perceived time
37. I’m the “aha!” moment that changes your perspective. What am I?
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Insight
38. I’m shaped by bias and filter your reality. What am I?
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Perception
39. I emerge under pressure and can lead to growth or collapse. What am I?
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Stress
40. I’m the tendency to avoid loss more than seek gain. What am I?
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Loss aversion
41. I’m the instinct to run, freeze, or fight. What am I?
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Fight-or-flight response
42. I am often false, but my effects are real. What am I?
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Placebo
43. I’m used in therapy, built in childhood, and help predict reactions. What am I?
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Attachment style
44. I can be manic or depressive, and I affect mood and energy. What am I?
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Bipolar disorder
45. I begin with fear and end in obsession. What am I?
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Phobia
46. I appear in sleep and reflect your deepest mind. What am I?
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Dream
47. I’m often invisible, but felt deeply. I can’t be seen, but I hurt. What am I?
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Depression
48. I can be triggered by trauma and replay over and over. What am I?
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Flashback
49. I can be calm or chaotic and determine how you treat others. What am I?
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Emotional regulation
50. I am a belief you hold without proof, yet I shape your behavior. What am I?
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Assumption
51. I’m the mental trick where you remember things differently than how they happened. What am I?
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False memory
52. I’m the invisible line between motivation and burnout. What am I?
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Stress threshold
53. I’m the filter that makes you see yourself worse than others do. What am I?
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Negative self-image
54. I often appear after trauma and can disrupt sleep and calm. What am I?
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Post-traumatic stress
55. I live in your chest, not your mind, but your thoughts control me. What am I?
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Heartbeat
56. I make you yawn when others yawn. What am I?
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Empathy
57. I occur when you’re so focused, time disappears. What am I?
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Flow state
58. I’m the illusion that others notice you more than they do. What am I?
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Spotlight effect
59. I’m a thought that won’t leave you alone. What am I?
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Intrusive thought
60. I explain why you work harder in a group when being watched. What am I?
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Social facilitation
61. I’m when you blame your failures on others but credit yourself for success. What am I?
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Self-serving bias
62. I live between your expectations and reality. What am I?
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Disappointment
63. I’m used in therapy, formed in childhood, and influence closeness. What am I?
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Attachment style
64. I’m the fear of being alone, even when surrounded by people. What am I?
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Loneliness
65. I’m triggered by memory, music, or smell and bring emotions flooding back. What am I?
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Nostalgia
66. I’m the emotion behind revenge. What am I?
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Resentment
67. I’m short, sharp, and often irrational. What am I?
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An impulse
68. I occur when expectations shape reality. What am I?
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Self-fulfilling prophecy
69. I’m the need to be liked and fear of rejection. What am I?
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Social validation
70. I’m born in comparisons and steal joy. What am I?
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Jealousy
71. I’m a mental shortcut that often leads to errors. What am I?
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Heuristic
72. I’m formed in therapy, not friendship, but feel emotionally close. What am I?
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Therapeutic alliance
73. I’m the trick that makes you value your own ideas more. What am I?
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Egocentric bias
74. I distort how you remember big events. What am I?
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Flashbulb memory
75. I’m a fear of losing control over your own thoughts. What am I?
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Obsessive-compulsive thought
76. I’m a personality trait that thrives on routine and rules. What am I?
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Conscientiousness
77. I’m your brain’s way of protecting you from trauma. What am I?
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Dissociation
78. I increase your heart rate when nothing’s physically wrong. What am I?
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Panic attack
79. I’m the lie you tell yourself to avoid pain. What am I?
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Denial
80. I’m when you feel two things at once like joy and sorrow. What am I?
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Emotional ambivalence
81. I’m the silent comparison that makes you feel less than others. What am I?
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Inferiority complex
82. I’m the effect of repeated exposure increasing liking. What am I?
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Mere exposure effect
83. I’m when you’re sure you predicted something, after it already happened. What am I?
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Hindsight bias
84. I influence memory, create fear, and live in the amygdala. What am I?
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Emotion
85. I’m the difference between what you say and what you do. What am I?
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Cognitive dissonance
86. I keep you awake thinking about the past. What am I?
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Rumination
87. I’m your brain’s way of rehearsing stress. What am I?
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Worry
88. I’m contagious, unconscious, and control your smile. What am I?
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Mirror neurons
89. I help you recognize patterns, but also create stereotypes. What am I?
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Categorization
90. I’m the act of blaming others to protect your self-image. What am I?
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Projection
91. I’m measured with inkblots, not numbers. What am I?
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Projective test
92. I help you cope but may delay healing. What am I?
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Defense mechanism
93. I’m a strategy for changing behavior through rewards. What am I?
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Positive reinforcement
94. I make you feel like you’re being watched, even when you’re not. What am I?
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Paranoia
95. I’m a memory you think you created, but someone else did. What am I?
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Cryptomnesia
96. I turn attention into absorption, especially in hobbies. What am I?
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Flow
97. I can’t be seen or touched, but you use me to judge risk. What am I?
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Intuition
98. I’m the belief that your fate is controlled by outside forces. What am I?
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External locus of control
99. I’m the confidence without skill, and often wrong. What am I?
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Dunning-Kruger effect
100. I make you overestimate how much others agree with you. What am I?
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False consensus effect
101. I’m the behavior you repeat even when you know better. What am I?
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Compulsion
102. I form when you can’t make sense of what you feel. What am I?
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Emotional confusion
103. I keep you alert in danger, but harm you in excess. What am I?
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Stress
104. I’m the exaggerated belief in your own control. What am I?
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Illusion of control
105. I’m the silent motivator behind your daily actions. What am I?
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Belief system
106. I help you focus on survival, not truth. What am I?
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Defense mechanism
107. I guide moral behavior but develop slowly over time. What am I?
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Conscience
108. I make your brain crave short-term pleasure over long-term gain. What am I?
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Instant gratification
109. I’m your brain’s shortcut to avoid deep thinking. What am I?
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Heuristic
110. I create unity, conformity, and sometimes chaos. What am I?
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Group dynamics
111. I am your guess about how someone is feeling. What am I?
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Empathy
112. I live in stories you tell yourself about who you are. What am I?
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Self-identity
113. I change how you behave when someone’s looking. What am I?
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Observer effect
114. I’m a method of therapy that explores your past. What am I?
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Psychoanalysis
115. I’m the bias that makes you think bad things won’t happen to you. What am I?
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Optimism bias
116. I’m a thought pattern that feeds anxiety and doubt. What am I?
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Catastrophizing
117. I’m how your brain protects you by pretending it never happened. What am I?
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Repression
118. I happen when you learn by watching others. What am I?
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Observational learning
119. I’m the inner voice of self-judgment. What am I?
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Inner critic
120. I help you grow stronger after emotional pain. What am I?
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Post-traumatic growth
121. I’m the mental process of choosing between options. What am I?
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Decision-making
122. I can inspire you or paralyze you. What am I?
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Fear
123. I happen when you compare your inside to someone else’s outside. What am I?
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Social comparison
124. I make you feel like you know more than you do. What am I?
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Overconfidence effect
125. I’m triggered by silence and driven by guilt. What am I?
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Conscience
126. I help you understand what others are thinking. What am I?
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Theory of mind
127. I reduce emotional pain by reframing thoughts. What am I?
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Cognitive restructuring
128. I change your behavior without you realizing it. What am I?
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Priming
129. I distort your reality when you’re angry. What am I?
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Cognitive bias
130. I help you bounce back after setbacks. What am I?
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Resilience
131. I make you feel like others are watching your failures. What am I?
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Social anxiety
132. I create images in your mind while you sleep. What am I?
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Dreams
133. I’m how you think people perceive you. What am I?
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Social self-image
134. I reflect your core beliefs and affect your behavior. What am I?
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Mindset
135. I make you act differently depending on your role. What am I?
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Situational influence
136. I explain why people stay in toxic situations. What am I?
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Learned helplessness
137. I happen when your identity feels split. What am I?
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Dissociative identity disorder
138. I exist to keep you safe, but I often hold you back. What am I?
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Defense mechanism
Conclusion
From cognitive biases to emotional traps, from unconscious whispers to conscious choices, each of these 138 riddles was a little mental mirror.
Some reflected what we already knew. Others revealed something new. And all of them, I hope, sparked a little curiosity about how complex, brilliant, and weird the human mind really is.
So whether you solved them all or got delightfully stuck somewhere around question 47, thanks for playing along. Keep questioning, keep wondering, and most importantly, keep exploring the wild maze between your ears.
Until next time: stay mindful, stay curious, and don’t believe everything you think.
