Don't Sweat the Little Things #2

Goooood evening my fellow Steemians :) Continuing on with my second installment, I thought this would be a great time to talk about the mindset of
Being Aware of the Snowball Effect of Ones Own Thinking

I believe this topic is fitting because of the red market that cryptos have taken to today.

If you have yet, check out my first installment which is on
Making Peace with Imperfection
https://steemit.com/philosophy/@cryptonewb/don-t-sweat-the-little-things-1

Being Aware of the Snowball Effect of Ones Own Thinking

A powerful technique for becoming more peaceful is to be aware of how quickly your negative thinking can spiral out of control. Have you ever noticed how uptight you feel when you are caught up in your own thinking? And, to top it off, the more absorbed you get in the details of whatever is upsetting you, the worse you feel. One thought leads to another, and yet another, until at some point, you become incredibly agitated. We've all been there.

For example, you might wake up in the middle of the night and remember an important phone call that needs to be made the following day. Then, rather than feeling relieved that you remembered such an important thing, you start thinking about everything else you have to do tomorrow. You start rehearsing a probable conversation with your boss, getting yourself even more upset. Pretty soon you think to yourself, "I can't believe how busy I am. I must make fifty phone calls a day. Whose life is this anyway?" And on and on it goes until you are feeling sorry for yourself. For many people, there's no limit to how long this type of "thought attack" can go on. Needless to say, it is impossible to feel peaceful with your head full of concerns and annoyances.

The solution is to notice what's happening in your head before your thoughts have a chance to build any momentum. The sooner you catch yourself in the act of building your mental snowball, the easier it is to stop. In the example here, you might notice your snowball thinking right when you start running through the list of what you have to do the next day. Then, instead of obsessing on your upcoming day, you say to yourself "Damn, there I go again." And consciously nip it in the ass. You stop your train of thought before it has a chance to get going. You can then focus, not on how overwhelmed you are, but on how grateful you are for remembering the phone call that needed to be made. If it's the middle of the night, write it down on a piece of paper and go back to sleep. You might even consider keeping a pen and paper by your bedside for such moments.

You may indeed be a very busy person, but remember that filling your head with thoughts of how overwhelmed you are only aggravates the problem by making you feel even more stressed than you already do. Try this simple little exercise the next time you begin to obsess on your schedule. You'll be amazed at how effective it can be.

As always, stay classy Steemians