Have you ever heard the saying, “Whenever you find yourself in a hole, quit digging.”? Well, it could be reworded to say, “Whenever you find yourself worried about something, quit thinking.” Because even though it seems like more thinking is necessary to solve our problems, often times, it only exasperates them.
According to David Bohm, a theoretical physicist and arguably a great thinker, thinking is the problem because it has a systemic flaw built into it: it creates the very problems that it seeks to solve. In other words, if you are thinking about a personal problem, part of your thought process actually serves to make the problem seem bigger.
The key to getting around this systemic flaw is to recognize when your thinking has become more of hindrance than a help. There is actually an easy way to determine this. Simply examine your thoughts to see if they are giving you more of a positive outlook about dealing with a problem or more of a negative one. No matter what kind of problem you are up against, thinking should always improve your outlook for dealing with it. If it doesn’t, it’s useless. In fact, if it results in a more negative outlook, then it is the problem!
If you find that thinking about a problem is doing you more harm than good, you need a way to coax your brain to just drop it. One thing you can say about the brain, it doesn’t like to surrender a problem it has sunk its teeth into. Below is an effective way to convince your brain to drop a problem when it’s hell-bent on clinging to it.
A Different Take on the Best-Case Scenario
Problems come in all shapes and sizes, but one thing they all have in common is that we want to resolve them. Say, for instance, you are worried about how something will turn out in your life. You have a best-case scenario in mind, and you worry that it won’t materialize. And why wouldn’t you worry? “The best laid plans of mice and men” often don’t.
If your heart is set on a best-case scenario that you have envisioned for yourself, then, no offense, but you’re really lowering the bar. Our brains are seriously limited when it comes to imagining what is best for us. The truth is the “best case” often comes about in ways we never imagined it would. If we want the best case to take place, we have to stay open to other possibilities. If we don’t, we may block what is actually best from unfolding for us.
In reality, the best case is our natural state. We are one with the Universe, one with Creation. We should gravitate to the best-case scenario in all situations as a matter of course. If we don’t, it is likely due to thinking too much about a problem rather than not thinking enough about it. If we really want to bring about the best-case scenario in a situation, then the most important thing we can do is to stop overthinking and trust in our natural state. Overthinking only serves to disrupt our natural state, our chi, our Universal energy.
The Power of a Mantra to Change Your Thinking
So how do you apply the above philosophy so that it actually brings an end to too much thinking? It comes down to reprogramming your brain. When the brain finally recognizes that the best-case scenario lies outside the scope of what it can imagine, it will be more apt to surrender thinking about it. Of course, reading this one article is not likely to convince your brain never to overthink anything again. It does, after all, consists not only of a conscious side but of an unconscious side as well. You’ve got to convince both sides! Luckily, both the conscious and the unconscious sides of your brain can be reprogrammed fairly easily with the help of a simple mantra.
A mantra is nothing other than a word or a phrase that you repeat to reprogram the brain. It works gradually but effectively to change your thought processes. In regards to overthinking a problem, you might try one of the following mantras: “Thinking is the problem” or “I surrender this problem to the Universe” until your brain lets go of it. And when it does let go, you might even discover that there never was a problem in the first place, only the perception of one.
Below is a video by Dr. Bruce Lipton that discusses the importance of reprogramming your thinking.
If you liked the above article you may also enjoy “Master the Art of Your Higher-Self in Four Easy Steps.”