Addicted to thinking
19th November 2021
I believe most of the rising mental health problems we’re experiencing in the West are directly link to our addiction to thinking. Furthermore, I believe that as consumer society has become more and more prevalent around us, we’ve been accustomed to hear messages urging us to sort our ‘problems’ with this or that product or service, our minds have gone into overdrive trying to work out all the different permutations of what would make us happier. The results is a mind overwhelmed and paralysed by the never ending choice that our society offers. As our material clutter has grown and proliferated so has our mental one.
Not only do we think too much but we also identify with our thoughts too closely. We think we’re our thoughts. Like believing we’re the film that is playing rather than being the neutral projector that projects the particular film. And this is the main predicament that now afflicts a great proportion of the population. Of course, this does not include mental conditions that have a biological underpinning.
How do we get to feel better? How do we get untangled from believing we’re our minds? We watch our thoughts. We create prompts in our daily lives that allow us to realise that we’re the ones watching the thoughts. Like a living and breathing meditation. We make a pledge to ourselves, to remind ourselves throughout the day that we can choose to tune our from the never ending chatter that our minds can be. Is not an easy task, specially at the beginning but it’s possible and best of all it brings relief.
Why not give this a try? Create a new habit of prompting yourself to detach your thoughts on a regular basis throughout the day. Let me know how you get on over on Twitter.