Today’s article was written by Change Coach Kristina Bruce
I woke up really tired today.
My almost 2-year old daughter is home with me for a couple weeks before pre-school starts, and as you can imagine, it’s a tad tiring. (Though we are looking cute in the picture below).
See, I’m someone who needs her sleep! When I don’t get a lot of sleep, things go downhill pretty fast. And what do I mean by “downhill”?
I mean the thoughts in my mind start seeing the worst in everything: in my life, in other people, and especially in myself.
The thoughts start berating me, telling me I’m going to ruin my daughter because I let her watch more TV than was “acceptable”. They tell me I’m the worst mom in the world, and that I made a mistake becoming a mom because if I’m going to ruin my kid well then why did I become a mom in the first place?!
The thoughts are bullying, they are dramatic, they exaggerate, and they lie.
So after a cry because of the all the intensity of the emotion from those kinds of thoughts, and my husband pointing out the insanity of the thinking, I was able to relax when the thought came: “she’s perfectly fine, you’re not ruining her, and hey – maybe what happened is what was supposed to happen and it’s all good?”
The point of sharing all this? Well, a few things:
1) We just can’t trust our thinking when the thinking hurts. Check it out for yourself. Notice when you’re feeling rested, happy, or relaxed, how do the critical, dark thoughts that felt “sooo true” appear in the light? Can you see the flaws in them? Are you able to let them pass easier? Do they seem silly?
2) Being tired makes a difference in what thoughts show up! Notice what kinds of thoughts are present when you are tired. Is your body really ugly and terrible or are you just tired? Are you really “bad” for eating ice cream or are you just tired? Are you never going to find a partner or are you just tired? Sure these thoughts can be present when you’re not tired, but do they show up more when you are? Go to sleep early, take a nap, and see how lighter thoughts tend to show up when you’re rested.
3) Rest matters! And you know what takes you away from rest? Stupid diet and exercise plans! The ideas and programs that over-work you, under-feed you, and fill you with ideas of “good” and “bad” and leave you stressed, anxious, and feelings like a failure. They really take us away from our innate well-being. Consider that you have all the wisdom you need within in order to feed and care for your body, and yourself.
So, if you’re caught up in some crappy thinking, notice if what you need is a little bit of rest. And see how some rest changes the quality of the thoughts you experience (and hence the quality of your life).
Learn more about Kristina here: https://www.kristinabruce.com
