tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8134050540089067247.post1937618950054059086..comments2024-03-13T09:44:20.433-04:00Comments on Happiness Through Humanism: Getting rid of nagging thoughtsJentheHumanisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01908285918010182097noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8134050540089067247.post-84286267757993302022013-01-25T10:34:07.956-05:002013-01-25T10:34:07.956-05:00Yeah - I was thinking about pointless worrying abo...Yeah - I was thinking about pointless worrying about hypothetical problems rather than real ones. Point taken, but even still, I find that if I address it and decide whether it is something I can do something about or whether I can't at the moment, that helps me put it aside in a kind of serenity prayer sort of way. Otherwise, it is in the background interrupting my current focus. Deciding that I am not working on it now seems to work. Sometimes it doesn't. That is where, meditation comes in and calming breathes and that sort of thing. So, yeah - agree. Though I would argue that calming yourself requires you to first figure out whether you can act on something in the moment or not.JentheHumanisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01908285918010182097noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8134050540089067247.post-3943840533259761902013-01-25T09:35:39.067-05:002013-01-25T09:35:39.067-05:00Hi Jen! I agree with everything you've said he...Hi Jen! I agree with everything you've said here. These are good points. However, I'd also like to point out that, many times, nagging thoughts are nagging, specifically because they involve problems that cannot be resolved - at least, not at that time. We may want a solution really bad, or want a different solution than the one we know to be true. Yet, we currently lack the information we need to get there, or perhaps the information can't even be known at the time. Or, sometimes certain events must play out before we can complete our thought processes.<br /><br />In these kinds of cases, we end up "spinning our wheels" - rethinking the situation or the problem over and over. This can be a major source of aggravation and stress for many people. When we are suffering from these kinds of ruminations, the solution may be that we need less thought, not more.<br /><br />If we have identified a case where it is futile to run over the minutia of a matter repeatedly and no progress can be made, due to current data or conditions, then we should shift from 'contemplation' to 'meditation'. Here, the object is to learn to focus on the present moment and still the mind. With a calm, still mind and greater ability to focus our attention as our will directs it by conscious choice, we can think about what we need to think about, when we need to think about it, and *not* think in times or ways that are counter-productive and stress-inducing.DT Strainhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02261855680365590369noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8134050540089067247.post-59757101408377151602013-01-25T09:34:37.206-05:002013-01-25T09:34:37.206-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.Spiritual Naturalist Societyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13495454809852394291noreply@blogger.com