Recently a client was telling me about an issue that was playing out for for almost her entire waking day.
I asked if this issue appeared in her dreams? She said it didn't, and shared that actually, she was a really good sleeper and always slept right through.
I asked if she HAD to think about this issue all day, or that she just DID think about it?
As I asked, you could see a lightbulb go off in her head. "You mean I don't HAVE to spend all day thinking about my problem?" she asked. "I could just choose to not think about it and focus on something else?"
"Yes" I agreed!
Her jaw literally dropped.
She'd had no idea she had a choice in all this.
"I guess, I just thought because I had been thinking about it the whole time, that I had no option." She beamed, we talked about a few other things and she left the session visibly relieved.
Overtime
Part of what happens when an issue shows up in our life is that we resist the experience life is presenting us with. To then try and fix, change or improve the issue to something more agreeable, we're left with our minds doing overtime.
If you are truly honest with yourself, incessant thinking usually fixes very little, it just creates a whole heap of stress, worry and anxiety. It causes us to miss the gift this particular life experience is trying to offer us and the beauty of being here and now.
If you find yourself caught in a mind loop about something, let yourself fully experience that thing. Open-heartedness is a wonderfully healing approach and will actually help with the problem solving, as the heart is at the basis of most solutions.
Let me know how you get on!