It has been a little while since I have blogged. Last month was a crazy month with lots of little technical problems with my computer. I noticed that my computer was bogging down and freezing up. So of course I consulted with my son and he said it sounded like one of my hard drives was failing. I began the long and tedious process of clearing information from one hard drive and placing it on another. I also wanted to free up space so I meticulously went through data and permanently deleted it from my hard drive. I let go of files from as far back as 10 years! Stuff I did not even know I was saving. This process also involved moving my iTunes folder- which was a whole other thing. (Big thank you to my hubby for that incredibly nightmarish task!) In the end, we got everything on my computer cleared up, restored and processing much better.

This whole thing made me think about how our minds are like computers. We get bogged down with information and start to feel stuck, frozen and unable to process our thoughts. Much like my computer, we have to clear out this information and release old files of past hurts, stress and media overload.

We have all been storing away information from the pandemic, election, and stress from how much our lives have changed over this past year. It is time to clean house and unclutter our minds so that we can function in a much clearer and peaceful manner.

But how?

Start slowly by acknowledging the incoming information that you are allowing into your life. Are you watching too much news? Are you obsessing over the Covid restrictions? To wear a mask or to not wear a mask? Are you frustrated over not being able to go to a restaurant to dine? Do you find yourself seeking information from the media about the things you cannot control? It’s one thing to stay up to date and it’s another to dive deep into the media hole and not surface for days! (This would be me!)

So if we can limit our time in trolling for media information, our minds will have less to process and we will begin to relax.

Next, we need to pause a moment and ask ourselves if we are holding on to past hurts and/or stress. Do you have replays of thoughts and situations that keep playing over and over again? Are some louder than others? These replay loops can bog your mind down with worry, sadness or anger. And then cause you to not be able think straight, make decisions or may cause you to freeze up completely.

How do I stop the replay of thoughts from playing over and over again?

If you can take a moment and acknowledge that these thoughts are bogging your system down, you can then decide which ones you can delete. Start by taking a few moments to pause and just breathe. Notice if a thought comes in that causes you some distress. Instead of pushing it away, say “hello” to it. Ask it “why are you here bugging me”?  Then, treat it like you would in helping a friend. Give the thought some compassion, love and support. Maybe say,” I hear you. I see you. I’ve got this now and I am ready to let this go”. Encourage the thought to delete itself from the replay loop. Sometimes just acknowledging these thoughts is enough for them to delete themselves from your mind. By ending the replay loop you leave your mind with less to process and the ability to reboot itself.

This work is tedious and sometimes difficult. You may have to call someone for support. But in the end it will be worth it to have your mind free and clear of information that no longer serves you.

Here’s to ending the replay loop and rebooting our minds!