I lost my mind
I watched myself make up untrue stories in my head and became impatient because of my thoughts about “all the things that aren’t done.”
I felt overwhelmed.
I tried to change the situation and to control someone else.
I felt the urge to reduce my discomfort. It was an attempt to feel better.
Urges
We’re familiar with urges when it comes to things like weight management; trying to resist the urge to eat chocolate or to snack at night.
But we also have urges when it comes to other emotions and managing ourselves.
My actions were caused by my feelings of discomfort, with the intention to temporarily relieve my discomfort by changing the situation, or to control the other person.
Instead of taking responsibility for our thoughts and feelings, we often blame others when we’re not able to manage our own minds.
Intentions
When we experience an urge caused by our thoughts and feelings we’re missing the opportunity to act with real intention and integrity.
Will this behavior produce the intended result?
Unlikely.
Do you like how you showed up if it does?
Is this who you want to be?
How can we best act from integrity? — By watching our thoughts and feelings.
What are your emotional urges?
Instead of understanding what’s going on for us, we often seek fast, temporary relief from our feelings.
My “go-to” emotional urges are to feel disappointment ahead of time, to people please, to take on a victim mentality. (To name just a few 🙂 )
Watch and be aware of your urges. What are their negative or unintended consequences?
What to do
Be sure you are always in a place of compassion, understanding, and love, when learning about yourself. You cannot beat yourself up in an attempt to change.
Your mind likes to be efficient, so once it has thought the same patterns over and over again, it requires practice and skill to change.
If you’re trying to change your thought patterns, you’ll need to practice patience. You’re in a battle with your own mind, and when it’s you against your old patterns, you’re always going to lose unless you’re patient with yourself.
In order to understand ourselves better, we can take responsibility for our thoughts and practice new ways of thinking.
