Thinking fact or fiction

Imagine 50,000 to 70,000 thoughts per day rushing through your head. Is it really any wonder that you feel tired and stressed so often? With all this traffic, it isn’t surprising that you may believe things about yourself and your world that simply aren’t true. They are thoughts, rather than evidence-based facts.

For example, you may regularly think that you aren’t good enough. You may feel fear about the world you live in and find yourself second-guessing outcomes, believing you know exactly how it will all end badly.

Minds think; it’s that simple. Some thoughts are useful and serve a purpose; others are just noise that provides an unwelcome soundtrack to our day.

So, thoughts are not facts. That’s a powerful thing to learn and a useful thing to remember. It allows us to put the brakes on a ruminating thought, the kind of thought that repeatedly enters our mind.

These thoughts are like clothes tumbling in a tumble dryer. They go round and round, but if we stop that cycle, they lose their energy and fall to the base of the drum.

Four things you can do

• Notice your thoughts by imagining a helicopter hovering above them. This can give you enough distance to see things more clearly.
• Notice the evidence for the thought. Is this fact or fiction?
  Remind yourself that thoughts are generated frequently. They are not always the truth.
• Learn and practise mindfulness.

With a quieter mind, you can achieve so much more. Next time you notice your thoughts, see if you can put them into the categories of fact or fiction.