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Almost everybody daydream unconsciously. For a few minutes, you find yourself thinking about things of the past or dreaming about the future. But if you truly ask yourself these simple questions; When did I start thinking about these stuff? Did I initiate this thinking? Am I in control of it? Then, you begin to know it's your mind getting you busy.

Daydreaming uncontrollably is a mental process initiated by the mind. Its duration and how it starts/ends periodically are both determined by our likes, dislikes and external environment.

Uncontrolled negative daydreaming drains life energy from you. It blurs your view and limits the power of your ears. It makes you feel weak and tired. It makes you feel uneasy. It affects your body chemistry and your mental growth negatively. But how does it happen?

How Daydreaming Happens
As a process that starts from the outside to the inside, daydreaming uncontrollably is triggered by our external environment. Take the scenario below for example;

Elizabeth's walking down the street, suddenly her wandering eyes catch a lizard scurry away. In response to that, she remembers one of her pasts with lizards which may be a good or bad memory. She remembers the place and people present during that period. Then she finds herself thinking about that place and the set of people present at that period. Elizabeth finds herself lost in her past, she starts daydreaming! (Past Uncontrolled Daydreaming).

Now, let's look into the case of Peter. Peter was expecting his WAEC result, he was anxiously waiting. Around 6:00pm in the evening, Peter was sitting beside his grandmother listening to her old radio. Suddenly, an advert for Waec tutorial and Jamb lesson was broadcasting on the radio. In response to that, Peter's mind kicks straight back to his WAEC result and it takes him on a rollercoaster ride of how miserable his life will be if he fails. Then it takes him forward to how in happiness he would spend his higher institution life if he makes good grades.(Future Uncontrolled Daydreaming)

Get what I'm showing you now? That's just how the mind torments us with daydreams. It fills us with terror and fickle-hope in the case of Peter. And it wastes our time as in the case of Elizabeth. I can't imagine Elizabeth missing the road as she's distracted by her own mind.

Breaking Free From Negative Uncontrolled Daydreaming

Here are 3 things you should do to stop uncontrolled daydreaming;

1. Divert your attention!
Seeing is believing they say. The eyes are the guardian of our sight in this world. Whatever we can't see, we don't believe is there. And no matter how much we think we see, we only see 0.5% of the 100% of things around us. We do not look at things deeply. We are always in a rush. Because we are busy.

Look carefully at those flowers. Look carefully as if for the first time. Watch the sun shoot her light upon those trees as they lay their shadows in prostration to nature. If you can't go beyond the doors., perhaps you're in office or don't want to move out of the house, open the windows and watch the street carefully. If you can't go beyond your compound, watch the clouds as they wander in packs over the sky.

This will help you to divert your mind from uncontrolled negative daydreaming and bring you back to reality. However, as you watch, your mind may begin to wander off again into the dreamland. Try again to notice beautiful things around you to keep yourself occupied.

2. Hearing
In an uncontrolled daydream state, you're prone to not hear the sounds around you. Take the case of a troubled mind. Perhaps, someone who've just lost something important to them. When they are in an uncontrolled state of thinking, they are far from the sounds around them. At times they won't hear you when you call their name. They will only notice your presence when you tap them on their shoulder.

But this is not only happening to sad people. It happens even to the happiest people on earth and it kicks us all out of the control of our hearings. All you need to do is get back to witnessing your hearings immediately you notice it has wandered off.

3. Combining The Two
After several practice the two above, you may want to combine the two together. That is, your hearing and seeing (diverting your attention)

One Love We Share

Written By @hermes

Edited By @chinyerevivian