Declutter Your Thoughts

Life is complicated from relationships to learning all the features on your new cell phone.  There seem to be unspoken expectations and assumptions that add to this complicated life.  You attempt to follow the unspoken rules of society and try to conform and be accepted.  It becomes work and clutters your mind.

You become hyper-focused on the expectations you assume others have of you.  Your mind obsesses over past conversations.  You wonder if you should not have said anything, or you should have spoken up when you were silent.  You re-play in your head conversations that happened years ago.  You assume the person remembers it too and is still upset at you.  You carry around a lot of stuff in your head.  It swirls around and seems to run on the repeat setting.

When you declutter your house, you start with a drawer, a closet, or a shelf.  One place at a time.  You look at each item to see if it is still useful and valuable to you.  You decide if it is needed or worn out.  You create piles or boxes labeling them – donate, throw away, keep.  The goal is to rid your space of items that you do not use anymore.  Thus, you declutter and simplify your home.  Let’s use this same concept for your thoughts.

You need to ask yourself, “Is that a good memory to keep?  Is it useful in my life?  Or is it something that does not matter anymore?  Can I let go of it?”  It is time to stop rehearsing in your head all the past hurt, wrongs, your mess ups, and what other people said and did years ago.  Forgive yourself and others and release your thoughts.  It is not forgiveness if you keep playing the record of what happened in your head.  Does it really matter today?  You cannot change what happened by keeping the thoughts spinning in your head.  When you find yourself going back to what you have released, put a boundary on them and tell yourself that those thoughts are no longer welcome in your head.  The past is the past.

Also, simplify your thoughts by not living in the future.  Put events and dates of importance on the calendar but not the emotions attached to the event.  Do the necessary planning but do not let your thoughts live in the future.  Pull yourself back to the present by focusing on what is around you now.

Rest your thoughts.  You do not need to keep reminding yourself of the past.  Your thoughts need a rest from the busy clutter of life, too.  Go outside and breathe in the fresh air and look up in the sky.  Give your thoughts a break from the media, your tasks, lists, and problems.  Give your thoughts an emotional break too.

There are a lot of thoughts in your head that have no relevance and are out of your control.  Maybe it is time to put these thoughts in a box and give them away too.  Negative thoughts pull you away from enjoying the life you have in front of you.  Let go of control and allow your thoughts to dwell in the good of life.

Check out my blogs on my website – www.livinginthedifferent.com

Elaine J. Sturt

Living In The Different