There are moments in life when you wish you could avoid some thoughts. Even if we’re talking about an ex, thoughts like “I can’t do this”, fears or the memory of a conflict, we all have things that we would prefer to forget.
However, we rarely manage to keep those thoughts away. Studies show that the more we try not to think about something, the more we’ll think about it.
The problem is that these thoughts have a direct impact on our stress level and anxiety. Daniel Wegner, a psychology professor from Harvard, recommends a few ways to manage this difficulty and to avoid those unpleasant thoughts.
Focusing on an activity you like
One thing you can do is to choose an activity you enjoy and focus on it as much as you can. This way, your entire attention will be directed to that activity, instead of your problems.
For example, try to take a walk and pay attention to every step you take, to what you’re feeling, what you’re seeing and hearing. By doing this, you’ll grant attention to the external environment instead of your internal reality.
Postponing your bad thoughts
Delaying your thoughts can help you not to be absorbed by them. What you should do is to choose a certain moment of the day when you’ll allow yourself to think about what bothers you.
To be clearer, it’s recommended that you take 10 minutes a day for thinking about any problem you have and allow yourself to feel those unpleasant things. If you do this, in time you’ll be more accepting of your situation, so the level of stress will diminish in time.
Mental exercises
There are exercises that increase your level of control over your attention. These exercises work on the premise that attention is like a muscle, it can be trained. So, the more trained our attention is, the easier it will be for us to have an internal discipline.
Although this is not easy to do, it is the most efficient technique and it will increase the quality of your life.
Buddhist monks spend decades of their lives secluded in monasteries reciting mantras and eating but rice, scrubbing floors and meditating from dawn to dusk in order to achieve that kind of mental control.
If there's some easy, just-add-water way to achieve just that, sign me in.
My take: humor is often the solution
My take: humor is sometimes the solution to not giving a rodent's backhinds about the things that worry you the most, allowing you to delay bad thoughts and see things not in a positive light but in a funny, ridiculous, ludicrous light.
That's not always possible, specially regarding intense physical suffering, but it's easier than controlling your own mind.
You have my respect and my upvote.
so true.. whenever we have some bad thoughts in our life we shouldn't let our minds to be surrounded by them.. Adding to these methods you say, there is another method that I learned.. Whenever we started to think something bad, we should notice it in that moment.. With another word we should catch our bad thoughts and remind ourselves that they are negative thoughts and harming us.. I apply this method whenever I start to think something bad and it really works..
Very important lesson! If you have negative thoughts or feelings it IS important to let yourself feel them and not push them away. Once you feel it it allows you to move past it better I think. Good shares today mate
great to share..
thank yoi
ya . you are right
Enough good things will be eritten there... its my pleasure sir to see those type of nice content... your article written was just awesome... keep going on and best of luck!
True negativity only brings you down . If you can’t control something , let it be
You got a 21.49% upvote from @upmewhale courtesy of @jwolf!
good sharing, i used to be full of negative thought back then, its really hard to keep those thoughts at bay.
Good..
yes ,i am totally agree with your states.
bad thoughts always ruin everything its not a good time to think only be positive
i am agree with you.
you always great post,,,,,
i liked........./////////////
when i do the things i love i can see my self being more productive
This was helpful, I need to practice this every day!! thanks @jwolf
Depreciation is dangerous thing in our health.........
with steemit everyone is happy :)
Thank you friend. I agree with you.