Spiritual Tips for Maximizing Your Energy is a regular series dedicated to helping people bring more consciousness to their everyday choices in order to live with more confidence, aliveness, and joy.
Spiritual Tip #2: Refrain from Overthinking
During the second year of my Masters program in Spiritual Psychology, there were a few months when I contemplated dropping out, and it wasn’t that I didn’t enjoy the coursework or find the learnings to be valuable.
It was that, number one, I was pregnant with my daughter, and exhausted and nauseous day and night. Number two, school and all the assignments were demanding, and I felt frustrated having to spend so much time on them when I really desired the freedom to relish in the preciousness of my son, who was in his last year of preschool. As for my studies, I was actually enjoying them so much, in fact, that I felt disappointed over the thought that I might not be giving them my fullest level of focus and attention.
But as I considered the possibility of dropping out, it occurred to me that nothing was forcing me to choose one path over another. So I decided to keep trudging along doing the work until such time I had certainty that hitting the pause button was the right choice. For me, this represented a real about-face in the way I had approached decisions in the past.
We’ve all encountered dilemmas at one point or another that have required us to make difficult decisions. And in our culture, many of us were taught to solve problems with the power of our minds. The issue is that when we seek answers through a mental process alone, we often expend more time and energy worrying than focusing on our true values and priorities. Worse still, all our analysis doesn’t necessarily point us toward the best conclusion in terms of truly solving the core problem, or doing right by our relationship with ourselves or others.
The problem is that all of this rumination puts us in a myopic state whereby we become blind to the full range of information and influences around us that could guide us toward a much more graceful and effective solution. In other words, not only does it drain our energy, but it also compromises our results.
So what did I do differently this time around? I stopped overthinking.
Instead I chose to trust that, in time, as circumstances evolved, I would be able to ascertain my next steps effortlessly. If it became clear to me that if I wanted to drop out, I would talk to the necessary people, explain my situation, investigate my options, and make an informed decision (all very worthwhile jobs for the human mind). And I recognized that in the particular moment I was living in, I simply didn’t have enough information to do anything.
By releasing my concerns, I created space in my own consciousness to be more present to my experience and to access my own inner wisdom and knowing, which gave me the confidence to deal with each ensuing moment as it unfolded. This made it possible for me to experience more grace and ease and allow my answer to find me rather than having to painfully grind along with my overactive mind to try to find it.
I am certain that, if I can, anyone can successfully kick the habit of overthinking by following these three simple steps:
While holding that memory in your awareness, come up with a positive affirmation. For example, “I trust in my own creativity and in the power of the Universe to show me the answer, or my next steps regarding this situation.” (You get extra credit if you write it down and put it somewhere where you’ll see it daily. Or better yet, repeat it out loud to yourself while looking in the mirror before you go to bed and when you wake up. Yes, I know this is totally awkward and hokey, but it really works!)
Think of a time in the past when a solution just presented itself to you. Very likely, this may have happened despite your attempts to control outcomes using the power of your mind.
Commit to letting go of your worries by disengaging your mind from its attempts to find an answer and instead choosing to trust yourself and the Universe to provide it for you.
Seriously, this process is like magic and can save you energy while you making your life a whole lot easier. I encourage you to take the path of least resistance and give it a try. Let me know how it goes!