Circular Thoughts: Why Do They Come?
First of all, to understand the problem of circular thoughts well, they need to be defined. These are ideas that appear in our mind and that do not lead to any kind of solution. They stand still, they revolve around the same topic without bringing anything new. They are mental traps.
Circular thoughts prevent us from freeing up the space needed to find new solutions or other points of view. They go round and round, wrapping us in a spiral of suffering. They are dysfunctional thoughts because not only do they not help, they also generate negative emotions and mental knots.
Many of these thoughts begin with the famous “What if ..”. What if I can’t? What if I’m wrong and then he says no? What if it wasn’t time yet? What if it’s not right for me? Questions that block alternatives, that lead nowhere, that involve a waste of mental energy and time.
Why does our mind engage in this vicious circle? Sometimes reason has to deal with our fears, anxieties; other times with the mental patterns we have created or simply because the brain needs to stay active. Instead of trying to make them disappear, the ideal would be to look for new ways out and solutions. Let’s see how to do it.
The “junk time” for circular thoughts
It is a psychological technique used to combat circular thoughts. To apply it, first of all we must distinguish between thoughts that are useful and that lead us to a solution (i.e. functional thoughts) and those that involuntarily overlook and represent only a waste of time and energy (dysfunctional thoughts). The former must be encouraged, the latter discarded.
Once we have identified the types of thoughts we have, it is a matter of devoting some time each day to thoughts with no way out. Whenever a circular thought appears, therefore, we must divert our attention and let it pass; we will focus on it during the time we have established (for example, 15 minutes after eating). In this period of time we will be able to spin that thought several times, until it loses its strength or we recognize its uselessness.
With this technique we will be able to remove unwanted thoughts, turning our attention towards something more productive.
Set your mind on what we really want
We are masters of what we think and even if sometimes involuntary thoughts arise, we have the power to decide how to use them. The question is to be aware of it, to learn to recognize which of them are good for us and which, on the contrary, push us into a spiral of suffering and malaise.
As we have said, circular thoughts hinder new solutions; that is why decreasing the time devoted to them causes them to lose strength, to reduce them. The “junk time” allows us to focus our attention on our goals and not on thoughts that do not bear fruit and, moreover, hold us back.
Circular thoughts are not good travel companions: this is why it is important to try to minimize them and disarm them. Let’s not forget that we are who we decide to be, it is we who give importance to what we think: we are masters of our time and our mind. We are masters of our thoughts.
