I Overthink...

I  am a hard worker, perfectionist but also an over thinker. You have no idea how many sleepless nights I’ve had because of how often I over thought past or upcoming events, hurtful words being said to me or even worrying if I did the right or wrong thing towards anyone or any situation. This is absolutely exhausting, frustrating and stressful . If you are an over thinker like me, then you would know exactly what I’m talking about. 

When I set my goals for 2020, stopping myself from over thinking was one of the goals on my list. So this is what I have been doing that helped me tremendously:

1- Every time I felt that I was over thinking, I would step back look at the situation and how I am responding.In that moment of awareness is the seed of the change you want to make. 

2- Instead of focusing on all the negative things that might happen, I started visualising all the things that can go right.

3- I distract myself into happiness. I started doing the things that I love, like exercising and meditating and I’m still planning to go back to painting. 

4- I stopped waiting for perfection: This one is the most difficult for me. Being ambitious is great but aiming for perfection is unrealistic. For example instead of thinking of the list of to-do things that I haven’t done, I would change that thought and think of all the things that I have done! 

5- Be grateful: Being grateful is such a powerful emotion that I wasn’t aware of until I started practicing it. Every time I had a negative thought I would change that thought and think of all the things that are right in my life and feel grateful. 

The effects of practicing gratitude are not immediate, and they don’t appear magically. But once started, gratitude continues to impact our physical and psychological well-being for years.“It is not happiness that brings us gratitude. It is gratitude that brings us happiness.”–