Thinking the same thoughts over and over again

Thinking the same thoughts over and over again

In our last meeting of the women’s collective, someone shared that she was feeling really frustrated, noticing that she was thinking the same thought over and over again, as she struggled with a difficult decision.  She was feeling stuck as her mind kept going in circles.  

Most of the women present recognized this pattern, thinking and rethinking in such a way that it can really make you feel like you are losing your mind. 

Without a doubt,  there are many benefits to rethinking. 

When you are faced with a challenging situation, it can be really useful to think about it from different angles, to allow for new insights to come when you see something from different perspectives. 

But, in our culture, when so much importance is given to productivity, it feels like a waste of time to rethink.  It is really easy to criticize yourself for falling into thought loops.  When the loops simply repeat, this pattern of thinking can really make you crazy. 

How can rethinking be powerful, rather than simply repetitive? 

There is a big difference between thinking in repetitive loops and thinking in spiraling cycles.  

Loops simply repeat the same thought over and over. 

Cycles spiral, and each time you revisit an idea, you see it from another angle. 

Something new reveals itself to you. 

When you return to honor the movement of cycles, you also return to value cyclical thought. 

This is essential in a time of so many changes.  The solutions to many of the problems we face today are not going to come from the logical mind. In fact, the logical human mind is what created so many of the challenges we experience today. 

In the women’s collective, we remember to listen to the cycles of nature, and in so doing we also listen to the cycles of our thoughts. We learn to recognize when we are simply thinking the same thing repeatedly, and to release the repetition in order to make space for cyclical thinking. 

By noticing the difference between loops and cycles, you learn to work with the waters in you to shift the pattern from looping, literally repeating the same thought over and over, to sprialing, a pattern that opens space for new ideas and possibilities to emerge.