Welcome to April! I haven’t published a blog post in a while, but I am back. This month, new blog posts go live every Tuesday and Thursday.
Enough with the house cleaning, let’s talk about de-stressing by clearing your mind.
How can you clear your mind? Well, you probably think I’ll tell you to meditate or pray, but I won’t go there in this post.
The purpose of this post is to tell you how deliberately dumping stuff from your mind helps with de-stressing.
Piling Trash in Your Mind
If you’ve been reading my blog posts for any amount of time, you know that I am somewhat transparent. Today, I share a true story about how I allowed trash to pile up in my mind. April is the perfect time to take out the trash. There’s no time like the present.
My Mind Was Bogged Down with Trash
Sometime in the latter part of last year, I stumbled across YouTube videos that caught my attention. The video content was mostly beefing (roasts and gags),
I became addicted to watching the videos, reading the comments, and also visiting gossip sites where people talked about the same videos I was watching. I had it bad.
I soon realized that I was not sleeping well, but I continued following the messy videos and gossip.
One night I couldn’t sleep because my mind was full of all the words I had heard and read. My mind literally was telling me what the problem was, but I wasn’t listening.
Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” – Proverbs 4:23
I cannot continue the madness.
Eventually, I got real with myself and asked God for forgiveness. Yes, I asked God for forgiveness, because watching people argue, gossip, curse each other, and eat enormous amounts of food weighed heavily on my spirit; I was convicted.
I asked God to help me, because I knew I couldn’t let go of this bad habit on my own. And right now, I feel like I am being too transparent, but I’ll keep going because this post is for someone.
What Happened?
I stopped the madness
I tried watching the videos that I frequented, but the interest I once had was gone. I’d click on a video to watch, and within a few seconds, I exited, and even the gossip sites aren’t appealing anymore.
God stepped in and took away my desire to engage in activities that were affecting my overall health and well-being.
Emptying the Trash and Clearing Out the Mind
I took out the trash. As a result of taking out the garbage and, throwing away the mess I was allowing to flood my mind, my sleep is excellent.
Listening to and watching anything that vexes your spirit, causes the stress response to kick in. I couldn’t sleep because thoughts were racing through my mind.
I never gave my mind time to rest. Yes, I slept, but my mind didn’t relax. Taking out the trash helped clear out my mind, and I can now focus on what matters most in my life.
How to Clear Your the Mind
- Acknowledge the problem.
- Confide in someone about your problem.
- Discover why you have the problem.
- Decide how you will solve the problem.
- Devote time to doing activities you enjoy.
- Rinse and repeat.
Final Words
I had no intention of writing a post like this, but I felt compelled to share how I allowed myself to get caught up. I’m only human, but with mistakes come valuable lessons.
The mind is sound as we allow it to be. If we feed it junk, and I’m not talking about food. I’m talking about negativity, hate, and envy (to name a few); the mind suffers and as well as our health.
Pay attention to your mind and when it needs clearing, please, take out the trash!
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Taking out the trash is something that must be done as often as needed- just as we remove trash from our homes. Sometimes, we can get so bogged down with cares of the world that they begin to weigh heavily upon us – many times affecting our being in ways that we are unaware of. When sleep is affected, it is time to do some self examination to determine what can be done to allow the body to get the much needed sleep that it requires. Thanks for sharing. Also, thanks for the stress course!
Hey Trinity!
Absolutely. Taking out the trash must be done daily. Thanks for chiming in!
You’re welcome! 🙂
Yes Ma’am this is straight truth! I noticed that a lot of non -sensical activities and non essential concersations were occuring… and I felt vexed from the accumulation of it all. I just knew that “I knew better ” and I too had to repent and turn from it. Im actively aware of non essential activity.. thanks for being transparent! I love your new email look too!
Hey Ms. Freeman!
Thanks for commenting! When we become aware of non-essential activity it helps us put life into perspective.
I appreciate the feedback on the emails and I am grateful for your support!!
God bless you!
Loved this article. You certainly hit the nail on the head. I’ve had to ‘take out the trash’ a few times (well, actually, more than a few. )
Hi Ms. Wambui! I’m glad you liked it. 🙂
And thank you for commenting. Excited you stopped by!
Have a wonderful day!!
Great topic, Evelyn! It’s so important to recognize that what we feed our minds is as important as what we feed out bodies.
I often tell my kids to guard their minds. We need to do the same. Thanks for this!
Yes, it is important! Thank you for stopping by and commenting!!