Declutter Your Mind: How to Stop Worrying, Relieve Anxiety, and Eliminate Negative Thinking

by S.J. Scott

Our powerful brains are constantly processing all sorts of experiences and analyzing them in the form of thoughts. Thoughts form what we perceive to be reality.

Your constant inner dialog distracts you from what is happening around you, right here and now. It causes you to miss valuable experiences and sabotages the joy of the present moment.

Not only do you struggle with your thoughts, but you also struggle with your inability to be free of them.

When life becomes so intense and complicated, our psyches search out escape ramps. Too much input, too much negative exposure, and too many choices can trigger a not-so-healthy coping response.

Deep breathing helps you feel connected to your body, shifting your awareness away from worry and quieting the inner dialog in your brain.

“Meditation is not a way of making your mind quiet. It’s a way of entering into the quiet that’s already there—buried under the 50,000 thoughts the average person thinks every day.”

“Focus on the journey, not the destination. Joy is found not in finishing an activity but in doing it.”

We replay unpleasant conversations in our heads and stew for hours over a perceived slight.

Often, when someone is talking, our mind is more focused on the minutia of our lives, our worries, or what we want to say next.

“Let us not look at the talents we wish we had or pine away for the gifts that are not ours, but instead do the best we can with what we have.”

Comparing ourselves unfavorably to other people is one of the major causes of mental turmoil and emotional suffering.

“Negative emotions like loneliness, envy, and guilt have an important role to play in a happy life; they’re big, flashing signs that something needs to change.”

You may come to a point where you simply don’t wish to deal with the emotional clutter and chaos another person creates in your life.

Goodbye might also mean letting go of the old way of relating to this person and implementing a new, more self-protective way.

“Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.”

Listen…to the sounds of the birds, the leaves rustling in the trees, the water running over stones. See…the sunlight and shadows, the tiny wildflowers on the forest floor, the hawk flying in circles overhead. Smell…the earthy scent of rotting leaves, the fragrance of honeysuckle, the aroma of a recent rain shower.

working on self-acceptance, ending comparisons, and forgiveness might be the place to begin.

The less time you spend “in your head” with intrusive, negative thoughts, the more time you have to enjoy the present moment—and every present moment for the rest of your life.