How to be in Control Over your Thoughts

Thought can refer to the ideas or arrangements of ideas that result from thinking, the act of producing thoughts, or the process of producing thoughts. Although thought is a fundamental human activity familiar to everyone, there is no generally accepted agreement as to what thought is or how it is created. Thoughts are the result or product of either spontaneous or willed acts of thinking..

However, not all thoughts are really worth thinking or spending time on, cos some thoughts are not really edifying and as the holy bible said that, 'For as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he,' it is therefore expedient to filter thoughts that you think, and separate the good one from the bad, thereby giving your mind more space to receive more thoughts. 

But how do you control the thoughts that you think especially the negative ones, the following points would help you:

Write The Thoughts Out

When you have a thought, it is natural to want to try as hard as you can to forget it. But that's not necessarily what you should be doing. What you should be doing is making sure that your brain knows you don't need to remember it, because it's already permanently on paper.

It may sound strange, but writing out a thought that's bothering you is actually a great way to take it off your mind. It won't prevent the thought completely, but many people find that it helps them stop focusing on the thought itself. Their brain essentially says "okay, I can forget about this" because it knows that the thought is on paper.

Stop Shaming or Blaming Yourself

You will also need to do something very important – you will need to be okay with having the thought.

This can be very hard for people, especially if the thought is particularly troubling. So many people try to fight it away, or feel that the thought says something about themselves. But you need to realize that these thoughts are caused strictly by your anxiety, and until you cure your anxiety you won't be able to wish the thought away.

The more you try to fight it, the worse it gets. That's why you need to get into a mindset that recognizes that these thoughts are a normal part of anxiety, and are something that say nothing about you as a person. It can be stressful having a negative thought, but it's more stressful if you try to fight that thought away when your anxiety is pulling it back.

So teach yourself to accept the thoughts you can't control, and know that when your anxiety is better these thoughts will go away.

Thinking These Bad Thoughts on Purpose

Another strategy that you may never have considered is trying to think of these negative thoughts on purpose. This relates back to the idea that fighting these thoughts are one of the reasons they affect you so often.

Generally, when you have a bad thought, your first reaction is anxiety. That anxiety causes you to not want the thought, which causes more anxiety, and causes more bad thoughts. It's a cycle that is often hard to break. It's also a cycle that gives the thought a great deal of power.

But if you think of the thought like you would any fear or phobia, then if you get used to the anxiety that you get while having that thought, the thought shouldn't bother you as much. You can do this in a similar way that psychologists help with phobias. For example, if you're afraid of spiders:

Your psychologist may put you in a room with a spider (or a picture of a spider).

You'll feel a lot of fear. But the spider isn't going anywhere and you cannot escape.

Time will pass, and soon you'll be used to the spider around.

Eventually, your anxiety over the spider will fade.

In the future, spiders will cause less anxiety.

It's not quite this simple, of course, but this type of strategy does work. Think of it like anxiety boredom. If you're in the presence of something that causes you anxiety for too long, eventually you'll be less anxious because nothing happens. You'll simply become bored of the situation.

You can do the same thing with your bad thoughts. If you think about them on purpose and let them cause anxiety, then keep thinking about them until the thought doesn't bother you anymore, then eventually the thought itself will cause less anxiety and hold less power over you. It's generally recommended that you perform this exercise in the presence of a trained professional, but it's something you can consider if you think you can handle it.

Healthy Distractions

Finally, distracting yourself from the thought can be difficult, but it's not impossible. Ideally, whenever you have these thoughts, get busy consciously with things that have the power to distract you from your immediate thought.  You can do it. See you at the top!