h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

>>Are you prone to gloomy thoughts or unnecessary worry? Do you let your mind run away with you? Do you have any counter-thoughts to get you back on track? <<
I have what is commonly called an oveactive imagination. This means lots of things get to me rather a great deal. When the problem is real, per se, the only way to deal with it is the 'get a grip and get some sleep'. Eg, I work in a call center and had an absolute grr of a customer on the line directly before being sent home sick. I didn't log the call or chase the stuff he wanted done, I was too busy fainting. The doctor told me to take thurs-mon off work. Spent the whole weekend churning over the possible disaters in my mind. All that worked was thinking "well, there's nothing you can do till monday. The chances of him getting through to you again are minute." Then I imagined that this did happen, and I told him the truth, thereby creating a massive guilt trip. Fictional problem, fictional solution.

>>If you're naturally not a worrier, a happy-go-lucky sort of person, could you perhaps give the rest of us, the unhappy-go-unlucky sort, a few pointers? Do you have any techniques to keep you in a positive frame of mind?<<

>>Sportsmen practise a lot of visualisation. They picture the ball going into the hole, smashing the back of the net, winning the tournament, before they've even changed into their kit. So can we think ourselves in to a better, 'winning' position, no matter what field we work or operate in?<< Now, these two best illustrate the fictional bit. I once watched a film that scared the heck out of me - it was one of those creepy ghost stories, and me with the over active imagination spent half the night convinced said ghosty was outside the door, planning to do me in. Sounds silly I know. Part of me knew that. What came next was even sillier. Because I knew, deep down, it was all in my imagination, I launched a counter attack, by calling up goodies from said film to lay the ghost. This escalated until my mind had populated the entire house with valiant heros and rather scary villans in locked battle until morning. And as the goodies generally win... I slept fine.

>>In your experience, does exercise keep the monkey mind at bay?<< No chance.

>>Do you think if you start worrying about worrying too much you might end up worrying even more. A bit like digging a large hole for yourself. Is it better not to analyse things at all and just do more things?<< Yes, but that thinking that hardly helps. Forcing the mind of the issue is okay, reading a book sometimes helps, and occasionally, just hiding under the covers works, too.

>>Is the person that you think you are - the version of you that you hold in your head - the person that everyone else thinks you are? Are they one and the same?<< Probably not, no.

>>Is it really all in the mind?<< Sometimes it's good to worry, it Other times, accepting it's in your head is the best possible route. And sometimes it isn't in your head - like FordsTowel, I do believe in ghosts. I think the difference is in seeing a real ghost, which genearlly happens when you aren't thinking about it, and convincing yourself there is a ghost.

Use the baroque solutions, though. It works best.