Ever wondered why you’re so worked up all the time? Why you wake up irritated? Why you feel drained out on a day when you’ve hardly done any physical labor? It’s probably because your mind is thinking in a loop.
What is thinking in a loop?
If you were to analyze what you think about, your thoughts would loosely be classified into a handful of buckets. Usually, it is related to work, personal relationships, kids & family, personal growth or one’s future.
As humans most of us live in the past or in the future, but rarely in the present. We’re either reminiscing about something gone by, or more often than not planning for something that is to come.
In addition, the human mind is always trying to make sense of things it does not understand, to find balance when it feels that the situation is out of whack.
So when faced with a problematic situation, it works and works till it finds a satisfactory resolution to the task at hand.
This is where the problem begins.
Stop thinking in a loop. Start Living Again.
Thinking in a loop, is a situation where you start thinking about a solution for a problem you perceive. You think through various options in your mind. Eventually every solution that you think of, brings you right back to the starting point. Then the process begins all over again.
To elaborate this, here’s an example:
My child needs to start taking her education seriously to do well in life…
But she is not studying hard enough…
If she doesn’t study hard enough, she wouldn’t do well at school / college…
It she doesn’t do well in her education, she won’t get a good job…
If she doesn’t get a good job she will not do well in life…
If she doesn’t do well in life, she will not be able to support herself or her family…
If she is unable to support her family, she will be unhappy…
So in order to be happy, she should do well in life.
But to do well in life she needs to start working hard…
BUT… she isn’t…
SO… My child needs to start taking her education seriously to do well in life …
… and the loop continues.
This goes on and on, till fatigue gets the better of you and you collapse, exhausted, into deep sleep. Unfortunately, your unconscious mind is still working in the loop.
So when you wake up, you’re still tired, irritated or both.
My realization is that being able to break this loop of thought, actually frees your mind, relieves your stress and helps you connect with your inner self.
So how does one stop it?
Simple. You take a step back, analyze and identify the looped thinking pattern and consciously choose to let go.
The trick is not to work on stopping your mind from solving a problem, but conditioning your mind to change the definition of what constitutes one!
Look at a situation, not from the first person perspective, but from the third person perspective. Advise yourself as you would advise a family member or friend. Analyze the problem, decide on a course of action and leave it at that.
Believe that good things will come your way.
Believe that destiny will protect you and address your worries.
Believe, that even if things do not turn out the way you want them to, eventually, everything happens for the best.
Let go! And find true happiness.
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