Now that we’re all stuck at home, we have a lot more one-on-one time with the voice in our heads, which is why it is especially important we form a healthy relationship with our inner voice, to remain sane during this time. I had a friend mention once that it’s hard for her to fall asleep because she’s constantly analyzing her actions, stressing about how others perceive her, and overthinking the future. I used to have this problem, but something my mom always says that helped redirect my focus is,
“You can have fear/worry or you can have faith, but you can’t have both.”
I found having faith is much less stressful than fear. If I want a good outcome, thinking negatively isn’t going to help achieve that. It seems we often associate hope and positivity with ignorance and being unrealistic, yet, we also tend to be overly critical and pessimistic, which just ignites fear and sends our stress levels soaring. My mom just sent me this fascinating article about the damage fear brings and how to combat it. Of course being realistic is important, but once constructive reflection turns into destructive over-analyzation, shifting our energy from focusing on what we don’t want to what we do want, is key to maintaining peace, perspective, and good health.