Are We Doing Enough to Save Our Minds from a Burnout?
Stop! Those thoughts won’t get you anywhere at this moment.
“Sometimes you gotta just chill. You gotta chill your thinking process.”
— Ghostface Killah
A thousand thoughts are running through my head while I type these words: things to do, errands to run, places to be.
Then some are about life, family, work, household chores. You see, the list goes on. It’s like a never-ending movie.
There is no climax.
Perhaps when taking a nap or meditating is the only time when I give my mind a break. But then again, you see images and visualise. That’s when we are creating our virtual reality through our thoughts.
Threats Won’t Let You Chill
That’s when I realized. Why can’t we just be?
It turns out there is an aspect related to evolution.
According to an article published on ‘The Conversation’ —
Humans are not designed to be happy, or even content. Instead, we are designed primarily to survive and reproduce, like every other creature in the natural world. A state of contentment is discouraged by nature because it would lower our guard against possible threats to our survival.
Threats?
I can think of plenty. However, now they are modernised and governed by external validations.
What if I am not good enough? Where is this leading towards? When I compare myself to my peers, am I there yet? Am I truly happy?
These and a thousand other questions make us question our existence.
The Next Big Thing
We are always hunting for the next big thing. This could be in our careers and where we are in our standard of living. We need to be somewhere, and thus the work needs to start now.
But in this chase, what are we losing in the process?
Mental peace, anxiety, a sense of worthlessness, frustration, and constant worry.
Most of these thoughts are based on situations that haven’t happened yet. They are uncontrollable, yet we stress over them, thinking that if we keep thinking about it, the magical solution will appear. But how many times have we been wronged with this mindset, and yet we land up in the same ditch?
So, what do we conclude? Will the chase ever end?
No.
You see, we are designed that way. Or maybe it’s how we are wired. Humans are looking to improve themselves, and growth is good. That’s what gives us a purpose.
But what we need to think about consciously is how this constant thinking is affecting our mind and body.
Time Your Thoughts
How about we spend only some time thinking about what we want to do instead of creating a burnout of thoughts in our heads?
Lately, I, too, have been feeling so lost that I was constantly looking for answers to my self-doubts. But over a few days, these thoughts created a monster of negative emotions, leaving me weak and feeling worthless. That’s when I had to tell myself to stop and just let things be.
We want to control every aspect of our lives yet don’t realise that the best things happen when we give up control.
The moment this hit me, I realised that we need to time our thoughts and what we choose to think about at any given moment.
It’s prioritising when to think about what. It sounds crazy, but I gave it a try, nevertheless.
So here is what I did —
- I timed the number of hours I thought about what goals I wanted to achieve.
- Make a to-do list of things I want to do for the rest of my waking hours.
- Figure out new things to learn. This occupies the mind and helps pause that thought on loop.
- Read or watch a movie.
- Solve puzzles.
- Take time out from gadgets and disconnect from the outside world.
No, the results won’t show overnight. But these are a few things I choose to do to save my mind from burnout. You may have a different way of dealing with this situation. But what we need to practice consciously is the art of just letting things be.
It’s all in our heads; thus, we have control of the mind’s steering wheel. We can choose to keep driving towards dead ends, or we can choose to surrender and let nature show us the way.
Ultimately the choice is ours. It always has been and always will be.
