Skip to content

My Happiness Obsession

Over 1000 Blog Posts!!

Menu
  • Home
  • About
  • Top Categories
    • Personal Growth
    • Money & Investing
    • Law of Attraction
    • Blogging
    • Running & Health
  • Complete Post Index
Menu

Day 35: Braving the Mind Field

Posted on September 7, 2018

I don’t know about you, but for me, my mind sometimes plays tricks on me.  It can suddenly start clouding my head, and for awhile it feels like storm cloud has just decided to hang out there, or maybe I’m suddenly tiptoeing through a mine field hoping not to explode.   When this happens, I usually feel groggy or out of sorts, confused or lethargic.  It’s what my wife refers to as “the alien” on my face: unclear thinking and a dubious mood.  The head chatter at this time tends to be negative, making exaggerated one-sided negative pronouncements that unfortunately can be hard for me to ignore.   I can easily get sucked into it, like being near a reverse hypnotist who draws me into its trance of ugliness, or a really harsh parent who shows no mercy, looking for any reason to be hard on me.

Usually, there’s something going on in the real world to spark this mental stress. It could be some work situation that didn’t go well, or some expectation I had that didn’t happen. Yet my head’s reaction is usually way over blown.   For example, this weekend, I had my sights set up on going out backpacking.  This is something that I have done several times in the past few years (I wrote about it extensively in two different posts, here and here.).  But for a variety of reasons, I’m not going this weekend, and I’m not exactly sure when I am going.  I did, however, join a local backpacking Meetup group, and I’m hoping to meet some other backpacking enthusiasts and take some kind of trip in the next few months.

Seems like a pretty normal situation with a likely happy ending, right?  Not a tragedy or anything.   But what does my mind do?  Of course, it is on my case, telling me that I failed, giving me a hard time for not going out this weekend “like I planned to” (funny thing: I may have told myself I was going, but I actually made no concrete plans, it was more wishful thinking than reality).

My mind’s tendency to strike first can be hard to deal with.   These days, I am better able to stop and look at what is going on, and pull apart the judgmental thinking.   Rather than taking it too seriously anymore, I can kind of smirk about it.   Gradually, I’m learning how to deal with it effectively.  It’s like a dirty car front windshield: no matter how dirty it gets, I continually apply the windshield wipers.  I’m not going to let the dirt and wind from the dust storm stop me from moving down my path.  If need be, I can park by the side of the road until it clears, and there’s always a gas station I can stop at to give the windows a thorough cleaning.

For many years, starting after college, I would write rhymes in my rhyming journals to deal with this head trash.  I called it “turning lemons into lemonade.”  And it really worked.  These days I’m more likely to type or write out my thoughts just to get them out of my head, or sit and meditate to get my mind clear.  Sometimes I need to take a break, take a nap, or focus on something completely different in order to regain a positive mental head space.

Overall I’m learning that I don’t have to be at the effect of the nonsense in my head.  To me it is a big reason for optimism about living.  When you can positively affect your mindstate, you are in control of your life, because no matter what happens, you start feeling like you can always find a way to get through the mind field.   🙂

Share this:

  • Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook

Property of:

Recent Posts

  • Saturday’s Alright For… Quality Questions
  • The Blog Shines On
  • When Today’s “High” Prices Become Screaming Good Deals
  • “Dark Emotions” (Original Rhyme)
  • The Timeless Timeliness of Past Posts

Read Posts by Category

Blogging (150) Books (93) Creative Writing (76) Creativity Topics (90) Higher Self (88) Home Life (22) Law of Attraction (153) Miscellaneous (135) Money & Investing (149) Movies (15) Music Career (61) Original Music (57) Personal Growth (378) Running & Health (134) Shenanigans & Ruminations (89)

Archives

Share this page

Share

More Recent Posts

  • Saturday’s Alright For… Quality Questions
  • The Blog Shines On
  • When Today’s “High” Prices Become Screaming Good Deals
  • “Dark Emotions” (Original Rhyme)
  • The Timeless Timeliness of Past Posts
  • Focus Relentlessly On What Already Feels Good
  • Tonight’s Appreciations
  • Swimming with Faster Swimmers
  • I Believe in the Power of Quality Questions
  • You Do Not Need an Intermediary
  • I Did It My Way
  • “Dead Dragon” (Original Rhyme)
  • Highly-Sensitive Chronicles (Update)
  • Tonight’s Appreciations
  • Deliberately Taking It Slow
  • “Living for the Softer Hum” (A Rhyme-y Poem)
  • A Dandy Time Blogging
  • The Book (Update #9)
  • “Rhyming Drivel” (Original Rhyme)
  • Fishing in the Milky Lagoon
  • “The Silkworm” (Verse in Iambic Pentameter)
  • Most Versatile Blog Award?
  • Tonight’s Appreciations
  • “Paradise of Mirth” (Original Rhyme)
  • Building My Cathedral
  • The Thing About Groups
  • “Into Creative Waters” (Original Rhyme)
  • Friendly Financial Reminders from Me to Myself
  • Tonight’s Appreciations
  • From the Vault: The North Star of Happiness Beckons (11/28/20)
  • The Book (Update #8)
  • Still Playing “Toy Blast”!
  • And Now October…
  • No Exceptions
  • Highly-Sensitive Chronicles
  • Tonight’s Appreciations
  • What’s in Your Vibrational Meal? (Part 4)
  • Clarity is Sweet (Part 2)
  • What’s in Your Vibrational Meal? (Part 3)
  • What’s In Your Vibrational Meal? (Part 2)
  • Using the Emotional Guidance Scale
  • Tonight’s Appreciations
  • Despite the Drama…
  • A Week of Satisfying Blog Posts
  • What’s in Your Vibrational Meal?
  • Clarity is Sweet
  • The Slow-and-Steady Way to Become Unstoppable
  • A Highly-Sensitive Man’s Trip to the Department Store
  • Mental Muscles of Focus
  • “What’s in it for Me?”
  • Coming From a Creative Space
  • Tonight’s Appreciations
  • Still Calm, Cool, and Collected about Mr. Market
  • Appreciating Regular Exercise (vs. Intense Training)
  • The Book (Update #7)
  • Friendly Financial Lessons
  • Bogus Ideas Like Judgment and Unworthiness
  • Your Mood is Like a Radio Signal
  • Don’t Expect to Make Lemonade Out of Vinegar
  • Tonight’s Musical Appreciations
  • When It Comes to Piano Compositions and 1000-Piece Puzzles
  • Already a Great Year for Introspection
  • A Verbal Sculpture Garden I Just Keep Adding To
  • Hello, Old Friend
  • Thoughts on the Vibrational Universe
  • Give Them a Break
  • The Ideal Weekend for Highly-Sensitive Me?
  • The Book (Update #6)
  • Beethoven’s Third Symphony with my “Digital Orchestra”
  • Tonight’s Answers to Quality Questions
  • When Someone Else Isn’t Being Nice
  • From the Vault: Generating a Positive Attitude No Matter What (11/23/18)
  • Tonight’s Appreciations
  • Vanguard’s Courage to be Disliked
  • Reaching for Satisfaction (2024 Running Edition)
  • Thoughts on Blogging, Digital Footprints, and Personal Agendas
  • The Game of Achievement
  • Musing on “Separating Tasks”
  • No One Said It Wasn’t an Effort
  • Thoughts on Blogging and Book-Writing
  • Tonight’s Appreciations
  • More Gems from “The Courage to Be Disliked”
  • Three Years of Steady Share Prices
  • Focused on the Long-Term
  • “The Courage to Be Disliked”
  • Glutton for Punishment
  • Winning the Game
  • Exploring Traits of Being Highly Sensitive
  • Tonight’s Appreciations
  • Enjoying the Prosperity Game
  • Breaking Down Chronic Habits of Thought
  • With All We’ve Been Through!
  • Nothing Has Changed, and Other Financial Commentary
  • Lessons Learned in 2023
  • Day 365: Don’t Overthink It!
  • Day 364: Missing It Already
  • Day 363: “Of Futile Efforts” (Original Music)
  • Day 362: Things Are Looking Up in Highly-Sensitive Land
  • Day 361: Today’s Appreciations
  • Day 360: Focus Where It Feels Best
    ©2025 My Happiness Obsession | Design: Newspaperly WordPress Theme