Trying To Fix A Situation With My Thoughts

[Sheeba]

In the ten last days I have been noticing and I have somehow "worked out" what is my monkey-mind trying to do about a certain situation.

"It" is constantly trying to solve a certain solution and in every sequence of trying to solve it (which happens like 25 times a day) it's "purpose" was to quickly impose and force upon how should I definitely behave about that situation and which stance/attitude should I definitely adopt. And this is very neurotic and by my judgment so far it's not doing me anything good.

So, is really the best solution to try do your best not to think anything about that situation -- because the monkey-mind is somehow encouraged by me on a subtle level with me being assured that I would solve something with...a lot of thinking?

Thanks!

Edited August 10, 2017 by Sheeba
Respacing paragraphs

[WaterfallMachine]

It's not exactly stopping thoughts. It's simply directing your attention somewhere else. Whatever thoughts pass by — is better met with noticing it with gentleness and using that same gentleness — to watch the objects of the monkey mind like clouds in the sky. To naturally pass by in time. 

Your emotions directly affect your intentions and motivations which also extends to affecting your focus. When forcing it away — you're not actually removing them. You're actually focusing on the thought of removing them more. 

The thing about overthinking like this is that even when the mind wants it, the comfort is only short term. You can never ground in more and more thinking — without any grounding to reality — the images continue to be unstable and loosely held. So that it can switch from bad to good and good to bad quickly. It's like a swing going up and down — for there to be an up, there must be a down. 

To really stabilize it, you have to learn to focus on the moment. First — and this is important — to let them go, you have to allow it first by trying to be aware of the monkey mind. It's not just "anxiety", "sadness", "frustration" and the rest. It has a certain subtle movement to it. A pressure or a lightness. A texture. A slowness or rapid movement. A certain shape to it. A certain manifestation in your physical body. This can be painful at first — but this allows for more acceptance in the long term.

Then focus on the present.

What do you see? Hear? Touch? Feel? Smell? Taste? Be aware. 

It can be really anxiety inducing to start like this. I used to be a pretty intense overthinker myself. But continue with baby steps, graudually increasing the time you can just let go and relax your mind.

Best of luck, bud.