Picking up the pieces as COVID 19 begins to fade: The following words are your answer to the feelings of restlessness, anxiety, depression, excitability, fear and foreboding or any other negative emotion. The key is just to believe. Don’t try to understand the process. Just assume that these directions are what you must negotiate for peace of mind.
Source of the “problem”
Every problem in the world is the result of knowing too much. Having too many thoughts is the consequence of the knowledge explosion and desiring to attain intellectual prowess (superiority). “Due to scientific thinking, western societies have entered into an unprecedented era of material wealth. This same thinking, however, has led to a correspondingly unprecedented number of mental health, environmental, social and individual problems.” (Albert Linderman) Put simply, the more volume of information is discovered, the more convoluted becomes the search for the simple answers to our inner issues.
The more thoughts that fill our minds (and the thousands that pass through each day) the more difficult it is to recognize and assimilate the pristine, pure concepts of the “grass is greener” kind. The truth ‘that sets us free’ from despair is not complicated nor are the directions hard to follow.
Navigating the way back
The first thing we must do is decide to believe that most of our thoughts are unhealthy as well as untrue. Repeat this to yourself and believe it. The ratio between truth and lie is unbalanced so that most of the concepts and ideas floating around in our brain are burdensome rather than helpful. Whether half–truths, exaggerations, misgivings, worries, guesses or forebodings the result is the same. They cause us to think an an irrational way. We talk ourselves into a corner where the situation declines to a point of frustration.
The second thing we must do is to believe that the only reason this happens is that we let it happen. We have the power of choice and in the workings of the mind it is our ‘super power.’ When a person says that a certain future event or situation is causing them anxiety, they are unaware that this is one of the lies we allow to assert it’s dominance. The situation is not the cause. It is our inward reaction that gives permission for a chain reaction of thought to ‘lead’ us downward.
The first thought that comes to mind when a situation arises is always a negative one. Our minds have ‘stockpiled’ a large supply of ideas that we automatically assume to be facts. And there are ‘lines of thought’ connected to each one. For example, “Well, this can’t be good.” “It’ll probably turn ugly.” “It always does.” “Might as well face the music.” “This always happens to me.” “That’s just the way it is.” “Why does this always happen to me?” These oppressive thoughts come in like a flood and rather than rising above it we simply try to ‘tread water’, mentally muttering and sputtering out our ‘perceived’ woes.
The Brain connection
We are deceived when we believe that the situation is ‘too much for us’ or ‘too complicated. A wise man (an older commentator named Matthew Henry) once said, “You have thought wrong. Think again and think aright.” Even though your mind will give you all sorts of reasons not to admit it, the answer to your conflict within is to face the ‘perceived guilt’. It it not failure to have ‘thought wrong’. It is simply becoming aware of a new way of looking at things. Stop defending those unhealthy thoughts and you will begin to ‘see the light’ of a refreshing new way of thinking.
The altruism, that ‘we do not have to be a victim’ should be our daily mantra. Another good concept to implant in our brain is that there are easy answers to life’s potentially, problematic situations. I use the word ‘potentially’ because I believe it is important to avoid using words like, ‘issues’, ‘hardships’ or ‘problems’. You’ve heard that common cliche’, “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.” That statement is one of the most effective ‘lies’ in our consciousness. It is a deception to believe that it is just too hard to figure out or accept the ‘dark’ times that inevitably come.
These words are concise and to the point because my thesis is that the answers are not complicated. The following mantras of truth will be your guide but only if you decide to take them as true and let them fill your mind to displace the misconceptions that are hurtful and defeatist. Do not dwell on the past and second guess yourself. Nor should you fixate on what may happen in the future.Just be here and now and manage your thoughts according to a new set of directives that you are creating moment by moment.
POSITIVE AFFIRMATIONS
I decide now that I will not automatically accept every thought as true but will challenge myself to seek the high road of cognitive thought
I will succeed because I now know that I can
My mind does not rule me because I can now manage my thoughts
I will think twice from now on rather than react
My peace of mind is dependent on my reception and assessment of thought
The circumstances of life are not the cause of my anxiety
From now on I will act in accordance with my higher thoughts rather than react with baser, emotional misconceptions
The only way to deal with negative thoughts is to allow them to pass by and fade away, not to
attempt to deny them head-on.
**Reciting these affirmations will not automatically relieve me of my anxieties, therefore I will consciously decide to believe their truthfulness and act accordingly
Conclusion
Do not say to yourself, “I will try this method.” for you have already forgotten the last affirmation. Trying is not believing. This is the answer. It is simple and direct. You do not have a ‘condition’ that requires long term counseling. Those doubts you are having are just more lies. Let them pass by and ‘go sit in the corner’ of your mind. You will be aware of them but not controlled by them. Don’t keep looking for and studying different ways of ‘coping’ with things. Coping is not having victory. It is staying in a “holding pattern”. You are more than capable of ‘landing’ in a better place. The land known as ‘Peace Of Mind’.