Mind Garbage

We all have useless, sometimes destructive thoughts and emotions swirling around in our heads. Quite often we don't think about what we are thinking about. I have been reading The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle. Some of his theory comes from Eastern philosophy, which I don't quite understand, but he posits that the mind and the involuntary thoughts in your mind keep you from being fully conscious in the present and from being at peace with yourself. You "derive your sense of self from the content and activity of your mind," which can cause you pain.

If what I have read in books is true, then the state where there is a gap in the mental stream is not easy to achieve. In Eastern religions they spend many hours meditating to achieve this state. The state can also occur naturally when you are totally absorbed in what you are doing so that time and thought slip away. It's like the flow state you achieve when you are creating art or music or in athletics when your exertions become effortless and enjoyable.

A way to break out the the emotions and thought patterns that cause you pain to become aware of what your mind is doing. If you keep thinking the same thought or emotion over and over, you step back and ask yourself why you are thinking or feeling it. If you break the thought pattern and realize that you are not your thoughts, then the emotion or thought has no power over you.

I don't know how easy or practical these theories are, but I do know that if you think about what you are doing instead of reacting automatically, it can be beneficial. I do know that it helps to get your swirling thoughts out of your head either by writing or talking to people to get a more realistic perspective on them. When you are under extreme stress, like going through a divorce, you go crazy with worry, anger and all kinds of negative emotions like low self-esteem. You react with irrational anger, which can back-fire on you. If you examine your negative thought patterns and try to understand why you are thinking that way, you can break through the toxic mind garbage and begin to think and act more positively. It takes a long time and you still have to feel the emotions to move beyond them.

Before I went through my divorce, I never thought about the crap I was telling myself in my mind, that I wasn't good enough or rich enough or talented. Dealing with the crap has become a matter of survival. I have to function on my own and find a way to feel relatively peaceful, and deal with the anxiety, depression and loneliness, otherwise I would lose my mind. I have no use for the old garbage and it has to go.