The other morning, I woke up and there was music coming into my window. The song is not one I enjoy but it is a catchy tune, so it got stuck in my head. Ugh. That was the last thing I wanted that morning, especially since it was one phrase repeating over and over and over again. It reminded me of how an anxious mind works. That we tend to roll over problems over and over in our mind.
The mind is one the most fascinating parts of our body because it does so much for us. The whole function of it is to protect us and keep us functioning. It does all of that effortlessly. Occasionally, the brain goes into hyperdrive because it has a problem to solve and wants to make sure that we are aware. This causes cycling and spinning thoughts which generally lead us down a path of negative thoughts and tumbles our emotions down to a depressed state.
What we sometimes forget is that our brain is trainable and under our control. Not the other way around. So, when I heard that music swirling around my head, I purposely changed the soundtrack. I said to myself, I don’t want this song sticking around in here, what song can I think of to replace it? Then I started singing it in my head. Even now while I’m telling this story I can’t even remember what the first song was because I had replaced the thought with a different (and better) one.
This doesn’t just work with songs - it works with worries. We don’t have to let our minds just trail away on our finances, work, plans for the next day, what people think of me, etc etc. We can choose to change our thought. This will only work if you have a plan to think through the situation at some point in your day as your mind is trained to make sure nothing slips that could potentially harm you. Set up a date with yourself to think through the things you need to figure out. Then when something pops up, you can tell yourself, I don’t need to think about that right now. I’m going to think about…. and change your thoughts.
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