My friend, Megan, describes herself as happy – she loves her life, has a job she enjoys, and feels connected to her kids and husband. But by the end of most days, she feels wrung out and is reaching for a bottle of wine.
Nothing “bad” per se is happening so why does she continually feel like she needs to take the edge off at night?
The culprit is a continual drip drip drip of negative thoughts. It’s like when you put a cup under a faucet that leaks ever so slightly. At first, you only have a few drops, but after 8 hours the cup is full.
I have so much to do today.
I need to lose weight.
I have a million things to do.
I can’t believe I did that.
These thoughts are fleeting and she hardly notices them. But by dinner time, the drip drip drip had created a lot of mental drama for her that leaves her seeking relief.
Start to pay attention to how often you are dripping negative thoughts. Pause and choose a different believable thought. These drips add up over a day, a week, a year.