It is said that one of the most dreadful diseases among humans living in the 21st Century is ‘overthinking’. As per the estimates, an average person has around 70,000 thoughts per day. So, how many of us focus to observe our thoughts? Maybe very few.

Do we ever think of putting a brake on our thoughts? Usually we allow them to scatter everywhere, into every corner of our mind, as a result of which our mind crashes.

Remember, an uncontrolled mind ends up tense, worried and stressed and this causes a lot of damage to the self as well as others. Hence, we need to apply the brake if the mind is to become peaceful.

We all think too much about others — what they did, what they should do, what they should have done, why they said this or that et cetera. All these whats and whys rob the mind of its peace, thereby making our lives miserable.

Overthinking is like over eating, which makes us heavy from within, thereby preventing us to remain light and flexible. When we overthink, we often over-imagine and overreact, creating a variety of negative feelings towards people and situations. Under such a situation, it is always better to observe rather than get involved and react too quickly. Observing gives us patience and clarity to think and speak succinctly and keeps us focused. As a result, we are able to economise on the energy of our mind and words.

How does one put a brake on the mind? Most of us understand this concept very well, but when the real moment arrives, we fail miserably because we are constantly being pulled outward by others, by their words, opinions and circumstances. Due to this an imbalance is caused within us, creating emotional, mental and physical disorder.

Hence, the simplest and easiest way to avoid this kind of imbalance is putting a brake on the tongue first. Our mind and tongue are very closely connected — what is in my mind is automatically expressed through my tongue and words, positive or negative. If my words are incorrect or inappropriate they create negative feelings and reactions in others and in turn the response of others create further retort from within. This ping-pong game of words and emotions occurs daily and is very draining for majority of us.

If we wish to stop this daily drainage of energy, we must apply the ‘check and change’ method. For that we need to first check our mind. What is in it? Wasteful thoughts, worry, fear, dislike or peace, trust and understanding. Then, check the flow of the negative thoughts and change the track into positive.

Remember, to check means to put a brake and to change means letting the energy of my mind flow into a more constructive direction.

Let’s make our mind our best friend and begin our day with these thoughts — ‘I am a peaceful person, I am a being of peace, peace is my original quality…’ and remain energetic, creative and productive.