Getting Lost in Thought

Getting Lost in Thought

https://www.restoredminds.com/5-Rules-For-Recovery

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In this episode, we are going to talk about being lost in thought or getting lost in our own thoughts.  Controlling your thoughts is really important so you don’t get stuck in a loop where you are consumed fully by your own mind and thoughts. So in this episode, I am going to discuss being lost in thought and what it means from a higher-level perspective.

TRANSCRIPT

(00:03):

All right. Hey there. And welcome to this episode where we're going to talk about the idea of getting lost in thought and, um, and really how to help get yourself back, so to speak or get unstuck. So, um, you know, I think this is going to be a shorter episode today because it's a, it's a conversation that we can have for the next 10 hours. Right. You know, I mean, because there's so many different ways to approach this, but really what I wanted to do is kind of offer a very simple idea, um, because this is so common, right. For, for many of us. Right. And so when it comes to getting lost in thought, well, what are we really saying? Right. And the F the first thing is understanding is like, okay, well, who's lost, right. I mean, if we were, we were going to ask the question, I was like, well, who's lost.

(00:50):

Right. You are right where you lost in your thoughts. Right. And so what are we saying when we say I get lost in my thoughts. Right. Cause it, you know, it's all happening internally. And because of that, it can make us feel like, Oh, well, am I going crazy? Or, you know, all this other stuff. Right. And so the first thing is understanding the two levels of consciousness that are at play here. Right. You have your thoughts and then you have the, you who observe your thoughts. And what happens when you get lost in your thoughts is that your consciousness essentially gets latched on to an idea. Right. And it could be an idea about anything, right. It could be about high school or union and old boyfriend or girlfriend. It could be about, you know, the future and some unwanted event and, or, you know, and I mean, it can go anyway.

(01:34):

Right. And so when we talk about getting lost in thought, like we can get lost about anything. And what we want to do is understand like, okay, well, when we talk about who's lost, like really understand that, right? Like your consciousness right. Is actually so roped into an idea or a thought that, you know, you don't even know up from down anymore. And we think oftentimes that if we figure out that thing that we're worrying about, or that thing that we're lost about that will resolve the issue and almost 99.9, nine, 9% of the time it's backwards. Right. It's we have to get unstuck from it. And that often either reveals that there was no issue in the first place oftentimes, and more often than not. Right. Because 99% of the stuff that we worry about often doesn't even happen. Right. Um, so, so once we, and, and so, so realizing that right, going deeper on the thought, thinking about it more, analyzing it more, not going to help.

(02:35):

Okay. What we need to do is we want to actually step back from, and what do I mean by that? Well, what, what, what we want to do is we want to start to realize like, okay, my consciousness is lost in this idea. And I want to start to bring myself out of my thinking mind and really go back into the observing mind. Right. And so Albert Einstein famously said, I believe that he talked about the idea of intuitive self versus the thinking mind, right. Or the, the, I believe it was the rational mind and the intuitive self. Um, I can't remember the quote, but really that we've created a world or society that honors this tool, like this thinking tool that we have. Right. We have the ability to think about something, but it's forgotten about the intuitive self, right? The, the watching the observing self.

(03:22):

And because of that, we just think that because we're thinking about something, it must be important. But again, thinking is important because if we're able to use it as a tool, when your thinking is consuming you and using you, you're not using it, it's using you. Right. And, and that's an important distinction to make. And so when it comes to, you know, really reel in ourselves back in, that's the first thing that we need to do is just notice like, Oh, I'm lost, right. Noticing that I'm lost and then coming back. Right. And what do I mean by coming back? It just means, okay. Like not trying to solve whatever we're thinking about. And then coming back to the present moment, great. Coming back here. Right. And this is where mindfulness and meditation. And that's one of the big practices, right. Is just noticing when you're lost.

(04:07):

Like that's the first step. Right. It's just, that's really our, the first thing that I want to talk about today is just noticing that you got lost and even just making a note to yourself. Okay. Oh, shoot. I got lost again, come back. Right. Oh, got lost. Come back. Right. And, and just that practice right. There can be so huge because so many of us were just lost and we don't even know where lost, like that's really, really being lost. Right. And so just developing awareness of when you get lost can be such a helpful tool. And so, um, that's all I wanted to really share for this particular episode, because I just want to, I just want you to start practicing that if you get lost in your, if you're finding yourself getting lost, it's just noticing that you're lost and coming back to the present.

(04:50):

And if you need to do that a thousand times in a day, it's like, that's okay. Right. Because that's part of the work. Right. Coming back, coming back, coming back. So, um, so go ahead and, you know, that's, that's the kind of techniques, so to speak, to try when we're going to start to get out of that loop. Right. You know, just to notice first that you're even in the loop is important. And then just starting to bring your attention back into the present and to start concentrating on actually something you want to be concentrating on. And again, that's a, it's a really difficult thing, but that's, that's one of the first steps because we have to first know that we're lost before we can start really working on it. So, um, hopefully that's helpful and hopefully, uh, yeah, hopefully you're finding this helpful and useful as well.

(05:33):

And so if you are, you know, we'd really appreciate if you'd share and like, and subscribe, you know, to support us at restorative minds. And also we have some additional resources down in the notes below that will take you over to restorative minds, where we have, um, different downloads, as well as additional trainings you can, um, you know, come with us on and, and all that. Um, and in as well as, you know, uh, live Q and A's, um, all sorts of stuff. So thank you so much for taking the time to hang out with us today. And we look forward to seeing you on the next episode, take care.