Obsessive thoughts can get the best of us. Better yet, they can get the worst of us. Have you ever been in a situation where you just can't stop thinking about something, or someone? No matter what you do, the thoughts around that thing just keep swirling around your head, and it's driving you absolutely nuts.
I've been there before. In fact, my mind goes there constantly. But there comes a time when you have to ask yourself, are you going to tolerate this madness indefinitely? Or will you actually do something about it?
And then that begs the question, what can you do about it?
If you're like most people, you probably want to get that thing off your mind, because it's affecting the quality of your life. But trying to rid yourself of a thought is downright impossible when you take the thought head on. It's like if I tell you not to think of a pink elephant. Of course you think of one.
So what's the alternative to defeating our thoughts head on?
For starters, you can relax, take a deep breath, and accept that you're having trouble with these obsessive thoughts. Stop being so hard on yourself for ruminating on something. The truth is, you're not even doing it. Your mind is doing it to you, and you're just so caught up in it.
By relaxing and accepting that you're caught, you automatically loosen up your mental grip. And when your grip is loosened, the thoughts can begin to dissipate.
Practice saying to yourself, "Yes, I am caught, and that's okay."
So often we become tangled with our thoughts, and fail to realize that we're stuck. We're so deep in the problem, that we're not aware of the problem.
In fact, that's the general predicament of the human experience as it relates to our ego - we're so deeply entrenched that we have such a hard time disassociating ourselves. The same goes for our obsessive thoughts.
Try laughing at your thoughts. Recognize how silly they can be sometimes. Remember that you're not the one manufacturing your thoughts. Rather, you're the one seeing them. You don't have to get invested in every single one of them, and you certainly don't have to believe them.
The next time you feel like you can't stop obsessing over something, give acceptance a try. Make it a game. See where it takes you.
Who knows, you might just realize later on that you've totally moved on from what you were caught in.
Live with substance!
Gabe Orlowitz
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