How to Stop Unwanted Mental Movies

What is the quickest way that you have found to stop unwanted mental-movies from playing when something triggers me?

My answer?

When that happens to me the first thing I do is I ‘step out’ of the mental-movie.

I shift from being IN the movie as an actor to being OUT of the movie as an external observer where I can see ‘younger me’ going through the experience.

When we ‘re-member’ past events from the ‘inside’, as if we were there now, we tend to re-experience those old emotions, as if we were there now! Not a great angle of perception to take for bad memories!

Step out of those memories to give yourself some perspective. If that isn’t enough then the next step is to literally give yourself some more distance from the ‘movie’. Shrink them down in size and put the memory 2 meters away, 4 meters away, 10 meters away, or whatever distance allows you to get centered in your emotions.

The past is done and over with and the past is NEVER the problem. However how you are ‘re-membering’ the past may cause you problems so find some new ways to re-member the past.

How you use your memories is ultimately your responsibility and the more flexible you become at running your own mind and emotions the more empowered you will become and the more quality of your life will improve as you live more intentionally.

Rather than memories being something to fear and dread, your skill of re-membering the past in new and creative ways will allow you to use your memories as resources and tools at your ready disposal.

Feel free to leave your questions and comments here.