Thinking About Your Thinking
Several years ago, I had a minor organizing addiction! I was always cleaning and organizing different areas in our home. I had a friend ask why and I responded that it was because my head felt so unorganized! It was the easiest way for me to find relief. Ironically, as I clean up my mind with the help of coaching, my house becomes more and more disorganized! ;) The messy closets and cupboards aren’t calling my attention like they used to.
Do you ever feel like your mind is full and cluttered and you can’t make sense of what’s going on upstairs? You have thousands of thoughts in a day, but you aren’t sure what they mean in your life. The best way to gain clarity and clean up the clutter is to take a peek into your brain and learn more through awareness. You can do this by thinking about your thinking.
Get in the habit of slowing down and learning from your mind. If you’re able, pull out a piece of paper and empty your mind. This is called a thought download. If not, you can think about your thinking any time—while doing dishes, driving a carpool, or exercising. If you start to experience a negative feeling, pause and ask yourself, what am I thinking about? Sometimes, I have to play the “retrace my thoughts game.” If you lose a cell phone or keys, you pause and retrace your steps to look for the items. It’s the same with your thoughts. Go back step-by-step and recall each part of the mental story that was playing out that day. Ask yourself lots of questions like: Was I remembering something from the past? Thinking about something in the future? Who was I thinking about?
You may be afraid to do this because of what you might find. I hear you! One time when my sister was young, she hid a Halloween pumpkin in her bedroom drawer. It wasn’t pleasant when we discovered the decayed treasure, but imagine if we hadn’t! The easiest way to combat any fear is to remember—you are NOT your thoughts. Some of them may appear ugly, hurtful, or undesirable, but you don’t have to attach yourself to them. Imagine your thoughts are like pebbles. Pour them into the palm of your hand and sift through them. Determine which thoughts aren’t serving you. Let those thoughts slip through the cracks of your fingers. Anything else can stay. Thinking about your thinking is the first step to moving towards greater awareness and creating the life you want.