Do This to Stop Anxiety, Rumination, and Indecision

Personal Perspective: Don’t push the river. Practice softening and find the yes.

There are times I swear my head is going to explode. Like literally. Kaboom. Like when there seem to be infinite choices and I can’t decide. Or when I try to push the river; trying to force things to happen or happen faster but all I do is run into roadblocks.

When caught in this swirling cerebral drain I’ve learned to find the flow of the river and follow it, instead of flailing against it. I practice resistlessness and hone in on my inner wisdom.

For instance, maybe I’ve been trying to fix a document for way too long. And IT. JUST. WON’T. WORK! Or I find myself frozen in indecision about a choice. It could be as basic as whether to go out for dinner or more complex, like whether to take on a new project.

Get Curious

Instead of going in circles or charging the proverbial brick wall, I stop. Take a beat and I get curious.

I pause. Then ask myself the question that I’m wrestling with. I gently search for a tiny place in my body for softness; a little openness that’s accompanied by a spark of gentleness or comfort.

Say, for example, I’m ruminating about whether to take a course. This is my quintessential negative feedback loop: rumination, indecision, confusion, anxiety, and depression. Then it starts all over and on and on it goes.