This is one of those mornings. Do you ever have them? “Those” mornings? It’s a morning when the committee in my head woke up before I did. As a matter of fact, they woke me up. They were standing at the end of my bed, shaking my foot. As soon as I woke up, they looked at me and said, “Oh, good! You’re up. We’ve got trouble.” The mental obsession began!
A mind is a terrible thing to waste.
Arthur Fletcher – Wikipedia
I couldn’t agree more. It often has me wondering if my squirrel cage of a mind that I often awaken to is a waste. Am I wasting my mind? Missing opportunities to deepen my understanding and learning? While the voices in my head try to convince me I making great use of my mental capacities, after all, I have big deals that need solving, I believe there is a better use of my mind. Actually, I know there is!
Problems cannot be solved with the same mind set that created them.”
Albert Einstein
When I spin out on thoughts, to-do lists, and resentments with others who are just “not doing it right,” they are like mental “episodes.” They come and go. Some are intense, some are almost unrecognizable. But they will get worse if I don’t address them. We all get caught in obsessive thinking. When it happens we can throw productivity and a chance to make a substantial contribution to our lives out the window. It’s impossible. We are being tossed like a Bounce fabric softener sheet in the spin cycle of a dryer. We only get more confused, more concerned, and more obsessed.
Like my laptop, my brain can overwork and ultimately begin to short-circuit. My mind needs me to click RESTART, so thoughts, synapses, and bodily nerves can reset. So how does the same crazy, squirrel cage of a mind that woke me up transition to one that can grow in self-awareness, understanding, and empathy for myself and others?
Scrub a dub dub, it’s time for a bath!
An old friend of mine, after joining a support group that some labeled a ‘cult,’ said it best, “I don’t care if they think this program is brainwashing. My brain needed washing!” WOW do I understand. When my mind has gotten clogged up with Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt (FUD like MUD), it’s time for a scrub. Just as we prepare our bodies for the day with a cleansing shower, our minds need to be cleansed and prepared as well.
The mind functions much better when we can allow space between our thoughts. It allows us detach from our thoughts and realize that we are not what we think, we are just “thinking.” Why? Because that is what brains do, among other things. The power of allowing space between our thoughts enables us to begin to place situations in their proper perspective once again. This is very valuable to the EQ practitioner who relies on their mind to process, explore and understand the intelligence their emotions bring to their life experiences. We must have a mind grounded and centered to effectively intuit the emotions of ourselves and others.
Wondering if your thinking has the best of you? Ask yourself, “Do I feel a sense of urgency?” If you do, and nobody is at risk of losing life or limb, then your mind has gotten the best of you.
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Here are five things I practice when my brain needs washing:
- Write. Yes, write. I don’t care if you aren’t a writer, or hate to write. Get a pen and paper, or keyboard if you must, and start recording all those crazy (or serious and concerning) thoughts. Write them down. There is real benefit that comes from completing a “brain dump.” It places these thoughts somewhere so they won’t be lost and we can come back to them. It alleviates the fear that we will forget something. It also helps to shift our perspective.
- Share. One of my favorite tools for brain washing, is to check my thinking with a close friend. Not a friend who cosigns my own insane ideas, but someone who will help me prioritize my thinking, separate the true from the false, and reason things out. Bless you, my dear friends, for loving me in this way!
- Focus on the breath. If you are sighing as you read this, then you REALLY need it. By moving into our bodies and becoming aware of our physical state, we must let go of the thoughts we are attached to, if only for a moment. And moments are all we have and all we need.
- Listen with Anticipation. Shh! Did you hear that? When someone says that phrase to me, I stop what I’m doing, AND what I’m thinking. I go on alert, like a German Shephard, and my senses focus. I am still with anticipation. ..welcome to space. In that space, I have a break from my thinking. I am fully present, and I my mind is clear.
- The Great Outdoors. Walk, hike, run, bike. The choice is yours. Focus on a sensory experience. While on your track around the block, listen for sounds. Ask yourself, what can I smell? What colors do I notice? What do my feet feel like in my shoes, or on the ground? Listen to your breath, the lawn mower, the airplane, the car, the snow plow, the rocks crunch, the rubber soul of your shoes gripping the asphalt… Keep it up… allows the senses to take over… the stress and the anxiety diminish.
Set a timer with each of these… no less than 10 minutes, and 15 to 30 minutes is ideal! Remember, you are WORTH it. When we prepare our minds, and support it throughout the day, we gain back energy that will be wasted by needless obsession.
Please share your comments and let me know your thought! Also, please share my post with others that might enjoy.
Be well!