Carry on about your business.
Sometimes, it is good to focus on the problems right in front of us, doing what we can to mitigate the damage. Other times however, it could be better to just carry on with what we are doing, is what we are doing is the right thing to do of course. The right thing to do is not always clear though. But for me at least on Hive, the "right thing" no matter what the markets are doing, is to keep on writing, engaging and thinking.
I think too much.
Luckily I have an outlet for thoughts here.
Before Hive, I had a lot of trouble sleeping, because while my days "seemed" full, as soon as my head hit the pillow my mind would start spinning through all of the thoughts it had been not thinking about during the day, including the processing of my own daily experiences. I would lay down and my brain would start dealing with what it had encountered. But of course, it is a very one-sided conversation and perhaps in a more tired state, my thoughts were likely processed poorly - a bit like how when tired, our willpower is significantly lower, which means we are more likely to engage in behaviour we would not otherwise - like unhealthy midnight snacking.
Guilty.
But also when our thoughts are preoccupied with problems, the things that we should be focusing on get pushed out of focus, and the things we should be doing are less likely to get done, or get done well. This is why stress and depression can be so debilitating. Because rather than doing what we should, we are consumed by thoughts and feelings that we don't want to feel, which hold us back from doing the things that could lighten the load and reduce the stress responses.
My overthinking at night was a stress response.
My brain was stressed because it wasn't given the time to process during the day, so it would force the process at night, instead of falling asleep. However, once I started writing I noticed it reducing and then I started writing daily, almost "compulsively" at times, because it allowed my brain to run through thought and experience quickly and efficiently. If I sit and write for an hour, I run through thousands upon thousands of thoughts that are both related to and unrelated to what I need to think about. But if I spend the same hour in front of a TV screen, my brain doesn't think much relevant at all, but it is tricked into feeling it is relaxing. But it is nearly impossible to truly relax when there are so many other things bearing down on our mind, waiting to be dealt with. And it is impossible to stay relaxed when all those things are still waiting, upon returning to the real world.
Want to improve your life? Write about it.
Don't just think about it. It is cathartic to give space to thought, but it is also positively constructive to put some of those thoughts into a concrete form, even if it is just zeros and ones on a website page. It makes the process real and makes it more likely that there will be some level of follow up done, even if it is not much. It is far too easy to think and then let it all slide when nothing real is created from the thought. Writing ties the thought to our physical reality, and our physical actions, bringing them to the fore of mind and going through steps to help process them actively, rather than passively pushing them to the back, where they fester.
What problems do you have?
I don't know what yours are, but I have plenty of things that are always weighing down on my mind, from personal issues, to family issues, to thoughts about global issues and everything between. It would be easier to just "let it all go" but then I also feel that this is what has got us into these problems in the first place, because we haven't actively and consistently been maintaining our house, so it just keeps breaking here and there, until it needs a full renovation. As I see it, we are definitely in need of a renovation of the system, not to bring it back to former glory, but to bulldoze it and build it again.
Maybe nothing can be done.
But I think that if there is one thing we can all do to improve our own experience in life and increase the chances of us taking an active role in improving our conditions globally, it is to write consistently and be open with our mental processes. Writing uncovers what we hide from ourselves too, and while it doesn't all have to be put onto the page, exposing and dealing with what arises can go a long way to improve our own behaviours, which directly impact on those around us.
It doesn't take much to much.
Long-form writing is where the most personal value comes from, because it gives space to a cluster of thought. The shortform content with a sentence here and there is largely useless in terms of mental processing. Using that one line to build upon into a larger narrative though, that is valuable.
Try it.
Take a thought, take an issue, take a line from this text, or any other - and then explore it, expand on it, follow its paths and see where it leads you. Be a writer. More importantly though, be someone who is able to maturely process your own thoughts and emotions so that you can improve your own experience, and be a more valuable actor in this world.
Carry on.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
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And you may be rewarded.