Alright, let’s talk about this thing I started doing, sort of “walling off meaning”. Sounds a bit dramatic, maybe, but it’s become a practical thing for me.
How It Started
It wasn’t like I woke up one day with a grand plan. It really came about because I was getting swamped. Not just with tasks, but with trying to figure out the ‘deeper reason’ for everything. Every little comment, every weird interaction, every setback at work or in life – I used to spin and spin, trying to connect dots that maybe weren’t even there. It was exhausting, frankly. Left me feeling stuck most of the time.
I remember this one period, things felt particularly chaotic. Lots of changes happening, stuff I couldn’t control. My default was to analyze everything to death. Why did this happen? What does it signify for the future? What hidden message am I missing? It was like my brain was running a constant, high-intensity search for meaning, and honestly, it was just burning me out. I wasn’t getting anywhere useful.
What I Actually Started Doing
So, I had to consciously try something different. It wasn’t sophisticated. It was more about actively stopping myself.
- Recognizing the Spin: First step was just catching myself when I started going down that rabbit hole. Feeling that familiar anxiety or confusion build up as I tried to interpret everything.
- Putting Up a Wall (Mentally): Then, I’d literally have to tell myself, sometimes out loud if I was alone, “Okay, stop. We’re not analyzing this to death right now.” It felt forced initially, like putting up a mental barrier, a wall.
- Focusing on the Concrete: Instead of asking “Why?” or “What does it mean?”, I forced myself to ask “What needs to be done?”. I shifted focus to the immediate, the tangible, the next practical step. What action can I actually take right now? Even if it was just making a cup of tea or tackling one small email.
- Accepting ‘It Just Is’: This was the hardest part, maybe. Learning to accept that sometimes things just are. Not everything has a profound hidden meaning or is part of some grand cosmic lesson. Sometimes, stuff just happens. A setback is just a setback, not necessarily a sign from the universe.
How It Feels Now
It sounds almost… simple, maybe even a bit detached. And yeah, sometimes it feels like that. It’s not about ignoring problems, it’s more about preventing myself from getting paralyzed by over-interpretation. I found that by “walling off” the constant search for deeper meaning in every single thing, I actually freed up mental energy to deal with the practical realities in front of me.
It’s not a perfect system. Sometimes I slip back into old habits. And I don’t think it means avoiding reflection altogether – that’s important too. But for the day-to-day noise? For stopping myself from spiraling? This crude little technique of building a mental wall has honestly helped me just get through things without drowning in ‘what ifs’ and ‘whys’. It keeps things functional. It’s practical, and right now, practical works for me.
