Are you a prisoner of your own thoughts

First thing in the morning after you open your eyes you start thinking of the problems you have (same old story in your head).

“I don’t like my job my boss is an idiot.”

“I hate my tummy it’s just hanging there.”

“I am never going to get married and will end up being alone.”

Then you drag your exhausted body out of bed, take a shower, and rush to work. By the time you get to work you’re too busy answering emails because that what you do first thing. 

You probably don’t have time to eat breakfast because you always rushing to work (you thought who eats breakfast anyway). 

Lunchtime comes you kind of hungry you grab a quick bite and another coffee to keep you alive before 3pm. 

In the evening you go to the gym because you want to get back in shape. You kill yourself in the class kind of punish yourself to make it up for the guilt that you think you eat too much and now you’re fat.

By midnight your eyes still wide open, a mix of hungriness and some posts that you saw on FB or a photo of this “slim girl” on IG that make you feel bad with yourself, then you think about your boss and your colleague at work, still can’t sleep at 1am might have a look at email on my phone a bit then you fall asleep by 2am. 

Your alarm wakes you up at 6am, you push the snooze button because you just want to sleep a bit more. But it’s time to wake up and you have to start everything all over again. 

Is this the life you really want?

Stress will never be out of our life because it’s a part of life. Actually, a bit of stress can push us to start doing something about it, to ask for help, to change how we eat, to start doing exercise. But most people have too much worry, too much stress. We think of what would happen in the future which most of the time it’s never going to happen. 

The only moment that is real, that you can have, that you can enjoy is this present moment here is now. You can’t turn back time and fix your past, and you can’t keep worrying about the future which hasn’t happened yet. 

“Worrying is using your imagination to create something you don’t want.”

Worry is in your head; you might keep telling yourself the same story what happened in the past or what might never happen in the future.Worry is helpful only if leads to change, not if it turns into obsessive thoughts. There’s nothing in this world can trouble you, as much as your own thoughts.

Stress affects your body. When you worry too much it creeps to your body not just the thought in your head anymore. You might start to see some of these signs; headache, diarrhoea, or even throw up.

Anxiety happens in your mind and body. Not only you’re a prisoner of your own thoughts but a slave of your life. 

Let me tell you this story. Once a psychologist walked around a room while teaching stress management to an audience. As she raised a glass of water, everyone expected they’d be asked the “half empty or half full” question. Instead, with a smile on her face, she inquired” How heavy is this glass of water?”

Different students gave different answers. She replied, “The absolute weight doesn’t matter. It depends on how long I hold it. If I hold it for a minute, it’s not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I’ll have an ache in my arm. If I hold it for a day, my arm will feel numb and paralysed. In each case, the weight of the glass doesn’t change, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes.”

She continued, “The stresses and worries in life are like that glass of water. Think about them for a while and nothing happens. Think about them a bit longer and they begin to hurt. And if you think about them all day long, you’ll feel paralysed – incapable of doing anything.” It’s important to let go of your stress after a particular time.

So how long have you been holding this glass now 

I believe the easiest and cheapest way to reduce stress is exercise. You need to start moving your body. All the thought in your head the more you think about it the more energy you give to it. Just get outside, go for a walk, meditate or journaling helps a lot too. Start putting good nutrients into your body. 

For meditation, you just have to sit comfortably and focus your attention on every in and out breath. Our breaths are born and die with every moment and they only happen in the now. When your breathing stops, now will also cease to exist.

If your mind drifts away from your breaths, gently bring it back and return your focus to where it should be. Do this simple meditation every day start from 5 minutes if you’re new then increase the time to 20 minutes. I’ve been practicing meditation for 30 mins everyday my goal is to add up to 60 mins at the end of this year.

As you become accustomed to focusing on your breaths, it will become progressively easier to stay in the now. Your mind will become less distracted by haphazard thoughts and memories. By being able to focus on this moment, you bring greater awareness to your everyday life.

When there is full awareness, mental walls slowly break down. Instead of being limited by your conditioned way of thinking, you live life spontaneously and act according to the needs of each moment instead of living in the past or future.

Take home message. My trick which works most of the time is to know that eventually you’re going to die, we all are. You’re on this earth for a limited of time so you better start enjoy it because when you’re gone none of this would matter anyway.

Saree Jitta has helped hundreds of women regain self-love and self-confidence through her popular Superwomen Wellness System. Her inspiration came from her struggle and triumph over emotional eating and trauma which now has allowed her to help others transform. Schedule in for a complimentary consultation via [email protected] or find out more at www.sareejitta.com