Obsessions—even good ones—are no fun. They remove you from the present moment and insert you either into a fantasy world or an imagined hell. The present moment is always the way to go, but how do you get there when your mind keeps obsessing about something else?
Just say “stop.”
Many years ago a therapist taught me this simple little trick. It’s so simple that I totally didn’t believe it would work. I was so desperate to feel better, however, that I tried it anyway. Whenever I caught myself obsessing, I said, “Stop!” (I didn’t say it out loud, mind you). Then I brought myself to something in the moment. Perhaps it might be something I could see, such as watching a bird at the feeder. It might be something I could hear, such as a favorite CD. It might me something I could touch, such as the softness of my dog’s ears. In the beginning I had to tell myself “Stop” more times in one hour than there are seconds in a year. Over time, however, I found that whatever I’d obsessed about gradually dissipated.
Give it away.
Write down a few sentences about whatever you are obsessed about. Then, ball up the piece of paper and set it on fire. As you do so, tell yourself, “I’m giving this problem to [fill in the blank… God, a higher power, the universe, etc].”
Say, “It is what it is.”
I often obsess about problems that I can’t currently solve or do anything about. If I could solve them, I wouldn’t be obsessing about them, okay? Sometimes simply saying, “It is what it is” is enough to remind me that I can’t control the situation.
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I love the idea of simply saying “stop” and training your mind to focus on something positive- so simple, yet, it works (I tried already 3 times today)! Thank you for the idea!