You're probably overemphasizing the importance of this
It's possible that you really don't need to think about it any more today.
You’re probably overemphasizing the importance of this.
Whether to work for one more hour. Whether to eat that piece of cornbread. Whether the next decision that you make will decide, exponentially, the rest of your fate and ability to finally deserve a little respite from endlessly trying to be good enough.
This probably applies to 99.5% of any given day/week/month/year. If you’re asking whether or not it’s important, the chances are that the wiggle room to say “no” is also a good start on your answer.
The things that are really important will have either a calm yes or a yes with a (but I’m afraid of…) attached to it.
My best-friend-since-middle-school’s father taught her the saying, “Very few things in life are truly an emergency, and this isn’t one.” For whatever specifics I may be missing I definitely got the gist of it. (Her memory has always been better than mine.)
Christina also taught me the Brene Brown inquiry, “What is the story I’m telling myself about this?”
I’m sure both of those sayings provided the scaffolding needed to let a little voice inside my head say that I was probably overemphasizing the importance of a small decision tonight.
But what if you feel completely unable to calm the agonizing beast inside? What can you do with an obsessive thought besides avoid thinking altogether or bludgeoning your ability to via drugs, alcohol, or small talk?
If recognizing it’s just a story, a probable overemphasis, or truly not an emergency doesn’t work for you, I’d go back to parts work or shamanic inquiry.
What are you seeing, feeling, or hearing that lets you know that you are stressed?
Identify where in or around your body that you find it. Flesh it out a little. Notice a few details about how it looks, sounds, or feels. What is the texture? What do you imagine?
Say hello. Notice if you’re curious about it.
Ask it questions. Mostly I stick to intuitive nudges or asking whether it has anything it would like to show or tell me over and over until it doesn’t have anything to share any more, has expended its energy, and is now ready to let go of all its fears and worries that it’s been helping me hold onto, sometimes for years.
Want to go a few steps further? In addition to the free resources I linked above, you can find a more in-depth class about these ideas and principles through an open-minded spiritual lens in my short $49 course The Supportive Mind. You’ll get $1 off at checkout for reaching it through this link so that I can keep track of such things.
Love and light,
Sam