I enjoy thinking.
I love the process of following a thought to clarity. Or putting pieces together to see the pattern. It’s juicy!
For me it’s like the feeling I get when I’ve been walking on the beautiful trails through Stanley Park in Vancouver, and suddenly come out into a gorgeous open meadow.
But I don’t enjoy it when I’ve been over thinking. Or when my thoughts feel like they’ve gotten my mind into a twisted knot. Then my thinking hurts!
I’ve realized something important: When I’m not enjoying my thinking it means I’m in the weeds. I went too specific on a subject too soon. I’ve been trying to force it.
So, what’s the solution? Go general. Take a few thousand metres higher view and some distance. Physical or mental; whatever is going to work for me in that moment.
A mental higher perspective can be as simple as saying something like:
I know the clarity is there and it will come. I’ll leave it for now. Or…
I know the solution is coming. I’ll leave it for now. Or..
I’ll put it on a mental shelf till later tonight. (Note: whether I get back to it later tonight is irrelevant. Saying it is enough to soothe the mind.)
A physical distance solution can be as simple as:
Getting up and stepping outside to breath in some fresh air and look up at the clouds. Or…
Dancing to a song I like. Or…
Going and doing my weights training.
All these work for me.
What about you? How do you soothe yourself when your thinking hurts?
I invite you take a moment now (you’ve come this far!) to identify a couple of solutions that could work for you and set an intention to be aware of when your thinking hurts, so you can apply them to go general.
With love,
Jenny X
I think 99 times and find nothing. I stop thinking, swim in silence, and the truth comes to me. ~ Albert Einstein
Photo cred: Me. Roses I met on a walk one afternoon.