Check The Mental Editor At The Door

Most of us remember the phrase "A mind is a terrible thing to waste." This tagline was from a television commercial back in the 1980's. There's no question this is truth. What's odd is that people question the minds ability to heal the body.

Perhaps more relevant is the inability of people to realize how much what you think, your attitudes, emotions, and decisions affect health.

I’ve worked as a Home Health nurse for 13 years. After all this time it simply amazes me that most people have no idea that they can control problems, just by using their minds.

Mind over matter is more than an empty phrase, the truth is, your mind can control a myriad of illnesses. Alas, most people simply don’t understand this connection.

You can choose many things in life, but you can’t always choose what happens to you physically—or can you? I’m not talking about the unfortunate people who are born in illness or disease or birth defects. Some things are beyond control of even the most talented physicians.

What exactly can you do to improve your own health? For one, check your mental editor. You know the one, the creepy little voice that tells you you’re worthless, you can’t do anything right, you’ll never get ahead, that you're too sick...

...slap that editor upside the head and make it listen to you! What the mental editor tells you simply is a lie.

If you’ve ever suffered with depression, either from an event in your life, or a change in your health, read on.

I’ve used this technique with my patients, it’s simple, it’s effective. It’s a great alternative to medications.

Set an appointment every day. Choose an hour a day when you know you won’t be disturbed. Don’t answer the phone, your email, the door. For one hour and one hour only, allow yourself to wallow fully in this sad place. Cry, cry, and cry some more. Talk to yourself aloud about the problems you face, kick something (no living creatures, please) do what you need to do to get the emotion out.

For one hour only. Set a timer.

When the hour is over, stop.

Just stop.

Here’s the tough part...for the remaining 23 hours of the day, when those depressive thoughts come into your head, and they will, tell yourself, “NO! I will deal with this at the appointment time.” You will find at first that you’re repeating this quite a lot. But it will become easier.

After the first two weeks, cut your appointment hour down to 45 minutes. The week after that, down to 30 minutes, and so on until there’s no more hour left.

You see, the point of the exercise is that you allow yourself to grieve. It’s perfectly normal to be depressed over any number of events, from the loss of a job or a friend, to a more serious or tragic event. Sometimes people get stuck in the grief mode. This is one simple technique that allows you to put that sadness in front of you, out where you can see it, and over a period of a few weeks, diminish it, until it is gone!

What do you do when that depression is out of your life? Set immediately to work. Every day, write down five things you are grateful for. Keep building on that list. Watch for “love notes.” Love notes are gifts to you for the gratitude you express. It might be something as simple as a bird feather falling at your feet, or a flower growing from a crack in the pavement. You’ll find these notes all around you.

Keep looking...
and you will find joy.