Starling Fitness: Daily writings on Fitness, Diet, and Health

These postcards from PostSecret just call out to me every week. I wish I could talk to this person and explain what’s going on. This is actually a healthy habit gone wrong. Sometimes we are too close to our problems. When something is really hard and I’ve been thinking about it too much, I find it helpful just to abandon it for a little while. I don’t think about it. I don’t try to solve the problem while doing other things. I literally abandon the problem.

Coming back to it after hours or days, I can usually look at things with fresh eyes. Suddenly the answer to the problem is right there in front of me and I don’t have to wonder what I’m going to do anymore. It’s like my mind solves the problem when I’m not thinking about it.

Now, if we could just take the snacking out of the picture for this person. If I could teach him how to abandon the problem without resorting to food, he would have the healthy habit without the negative consequences. Here are some things that I do when I’m trying not to think about something that is hard:

• Go for a walk outside. It’s not for exercise, it’s just to see new things or pick up some garbage off the ground.

• Work on a hobby. For me it’s crochet or any systematic hobby that occupies my hands and mind so much that I don’t think about the problem.

• Play video games. I have to concentrate on what I’m doing in the game so that I can get a higher score. I don’t have any extra room in my head for thinking.

• Surf the web. Reading all that there is out there helps me forget what is going on here.

All I need is distraction for a couple of hours and I usually can get past whatever was bothering me.

PostSecret‘s beneficiary is the National Hopeline Network. It is a 24-hour hotline (1 (800) SUICIDE) for anyone who is thinking about suicide or knows someone who is considering it.