While sitting in with a group of friends, it is a commonly asked question, ”yaar how to make myself stop overthinking?” and the conversation continues on how the person is unable to sleep through the night due to this mind disorder. Overthinking is a curse for sure, it can keep you worried for things that may never really happen and even if they do why keep thinking it over?
Working your grey matter is a good thing, but overthinking is a state of mind that can affect you and your health- it certainly has lasting effects on the relationships around you, because what starts in the mind, doesn’t stay in the mind. People who think a lot over the unnecessary tend to zone out into the unrealistic- the mind then designs reactions which are irrelevant. People who over think are more irritable- in their mind they have reached a conclusion that has got nothing to do with reality. Over thinking is a bad habit that you need to give up. We have some handy tips on how to overcome the draining habit.
Snap and Pull
The minute you find yourself engaging in the tiresome mind activity-that is the time you pull yourself out and see how you maybe escaping the reality of the situation. Keep yourself grounded with facts and control the urge to wayward off track. It starts as small as thoughts of doubt, stress or anxiety and ends as a heavy grudge or fear upon your heart. It is wise to wake yourself up, inhale and exhale out of it as soon as you notice yourself down the same road.
Turn on the lights!
“LIGHTS!”-like a movie director, order some light back into and over the mind to bring your brain back into perspective. Divert your mind to happy things in your life- count your blessings to begin with. Over thinking is a pile of too many fears. You have to beat it with thoughts of joy and gratitude over all the right things in your life- family, your child and genuine relationships- look for all the excuses to revert back to the happy person in you. You can make a list of things you are happy about and also a list of things you wish to achieve in the future. It is all a game of diverting your mind from the dark to the light.
Hold your horses Mr. Fortune teller!
Stop acting like a fortune teller, by dissecting and attaching things into a mad chaos in your mind. Do we know what happens with us in the next second? How then can we think our way into what may happen in the future? The truth of the matter is-all the things we fear never really happen. I may be nervous about tripping on stage in front of an audience during a speech- but none of that fortune telling helped our minds nor did it help our confidence. With a bait of ‘what may’, we walk ourselves to things that may never happen. Remind yourself that you are not future predicting wizard to calm your nerves and offer then a seat to sit and relax .
Sleep is beauty
Resting time is essential. Never skip sleep even for a lover. We need to give our brains some rest after a long day of work. It is a habit to check social media or watch Netflix series in bed-by doing so we are only stretching our bed time. Sleep is vital for the fitness of the body and mind and they are both interlinked. Scrolling through the news feed of other people’s ‘Social media-happy-life’ can trigger the mind of an over thinker. Even though happy pictures aren’t always happy- everyone has a background story, but an over thinker likes to think that everyone has it better than them. Bed is for sleep and sleep is helpful rest for the the mind. Put away that phone at least 2 hours before bedtime and snore away! There is a lot o scientific reasons why people should not use phones near bed time.
Grateful mind
Over thinkers can become quite unhappy people because in their minds they always assume, control and orchestrate everything. No matter how much an over thinker wishes to book out their own life with a script, real life doesn’t take orders from their brain. Life remains unpredictable and we have to give up the ‘trying to understand life’ part. Transition from an overthinking mind to a grateful mind- we can add steps to make our journey through life worthwhile-a thankful heart negates the urge to entertain nonsensical trash. A grateful heart is a blessing-magnet. Try to cheer yourself out of thoughts that burden your heart and bring your mind to butterflies, flowers, rivers and all things beautiful. Master your mind so that your mind doesn’t master you.