Day 871: What’s taking up space in your head?

What’s taking up space in your head?

… is the question that was taking up space in my head, when I woke up earlier this morning.

Why was that question taking up space in my head?

Here’s why: Some negative people and difficult situations are taking up too much friggin’ space in my head, right now. And, I do NOT want to be renting them so much — if any — of my valuable mental space.

Why do negative people and difficult situations take up so much space? I mean it’s my head, dammit! Why, on earth, am I NOT renting more space to positive people and things, including

• my ongoing recovery from my recent cardiac-related surgery,
• my extremely good chances, according to my trusted cardiologists, of avoiding dreaded major heart surgery in the near future,
• people and animals I love,
• my wonderful experiences here in the blog-o-sphere,
• the therapy groups I get to do every week at work,
• my upcoming presentation on these groups, at a group therapy conference the first weekend of June, and
• my upcoming chance to sing a song I love — Sondheim’s “Green Finch and Linnet Bird” — and KILL it at an audition (if I’m not too nervous)?

I would prefer to be giving ALL my mental space to those and other positive things in my life, today. So why am I spacey enough to give any head-space, at all, to:

• negative people and
• disappointing situations?

Here’s a possible answer to that, which is taking up space in my head:

Perhaps we spend a lot of time and energy on difficult people and situations because our mind is doing its best to solve “the problem.”

Well, giving those things too much head space can be a problem, too.

So how can I start giving negative people and difficult situations less space, right now?

I could:

• recognize that those negative people and situations do NOT have as much power as I fear,
• rent space to those negative people and situations only during times when I am able to take some helpful action in response,
• serve them an eviction notice, over and over again,
•  deliberately make space for other things (for example, these pictures I took yesterday, in chronological time and space):

                      

• and, finally, focus my head on interesting puzzles, like …. what was the word on that sign, above, before it got damaged?

Is there space in your head, right now, for some music? How about renting some space to something from the musical Rent?

In my head, the song “Santa Fe” is about people renting new space,  in their heads,  for hope and for change.

If your head has space to leave a comment in the space below, my head will become less spacey and more happy, I’m sure.

Finally, I shall now take up more space in your head with my space-filling gratitude for all the positive situations and people in my life …. including you!