There are many ways to stay sane. One approach is to do things that support your soul. It is also to separate yourself from things that sap your soul. Imagine that you want to follow this approach in your own way. This can involve focusing on the following themes.
Support
What are the things that support your soul? Different people give different answers to this question. Here are some of the activities they may mention.
The Things That Support My Soul Are:
Encouraging people … Being with my loved ones … Playing inspiring music … Working in our garden … Walking with my dog … Being close to water … Being with positive people … Studying success.
Doing what I believe in … Following my principles … Coaching motivated people … Doing creative projects … Passing on knowledge … Helping other people to succeed … Working towards my life goals.
If you wish, try tackling the exercise on this theme. This invites you to complete the following sentences.
Separation
What are the things that may sap your soul? How can you separate yourself from some of these? What may be the benefits of taking these steps?
Different people take different steps towards making this happen. One person explained their approach in the following way.
“Whilst I like to know about what is happening in the world, I stopped over-dosing on listening to the news. These days I look at the headlines but often avoid going deeper. I don’t want to go into a doom loop.
“If a person starts complaining about things, I find a polite ways of saying that I am happy to focus on solutions. I realised that by listening I was often acting as an enabler and encouraging them to complain more.
“One challenge was to become more positive about my own efforts. I used to have elements of a negative script that involved comparing myself to other people.
“Nowadays I try to be the best I can be. I also try to keep improving by focusing on how to keep building on what I do well and tackling areas for improvement.”
Sometimes it is not easy to take such steps. One approach is to recognise some of the triggers that can create negative feelings. Whenever possible, it can be helpful:
To avoid putting yourself into situations – or doing activities – that can trigger you into going on a downward spiral;
To, if despite your best efforts such events do happen, then aim to something positive rather than try to fight the negative.
The positive approach is one I learned when working with people who were trying to deal with negative addictions. They found it is often more effective:
To start doing something positive – and getting positive results – rather than trying to stop doing something negative.
Let’s return to your own life. If you wish, try tackling the exercise on these theme. This invites you to describe how you can separate yourself from some of the things that may sap your soul.
As mentioned earlier, there many ways to stay sane. One approach is to do things that support your soul. It is also to separate yourself from things that sap your soul.
Imagine that you have explored the exercises on these themes. If appropriate, you may also wish to translate some of these ideas into action. How can you do this in your own way? What may be the benefits?
If you wish, try tackling the exercise on this theme. This invites you to complete the following sentences.
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