Dear LPG,

I am wondering if there are any other readers who, every now and then, find themselves with some relatively minor worry on their minds that gets in the way of everything they plan to do? 

Now I have finished wondering, I know that it happens and not only to me.  The sad thing is that minor mind-consuming thoughts can interfere with your entire day and they often are not remotely life-changing or major to anyone else. 

I often find myself deep in thought about ways of solving predicaments that are being faced by people I know, and after the best part of a year when there has been little else to do but phone your friends it is happening more and more.

 I recently was talking to one of my friends who told me that he had decided to get rid of a plant that has been in his garden ever since I remember.  I remember noticing and admiring it the first time that I saw it and, I have even tried to take a cutting.   One day recently he mentioned his plans to get rid of it and I did mention how upset I would be if he did, in vain I think.   I can’t tell you how much time I spent trying to work out ways to persuade him to give it a reprieve although I never told him all my thoughts.

I know that it is a bit over the top, I live alone and remember the day when my thoughts were consumed with the fact that a radio at home had gone wrong and, in spite of the fact that I have three of them, can afford to and know exactly how to get another online (which arrived within a few days) the logic of the situation lost to my time-consuming inventive thoughts on that one predicament took up the whole day.  Plugging one of the others out and taking it with me when I needed it in the room where the defective one was would have been relatively easy, but though I had a lot planned for that day, I was so preoccupied that none of it got done.

I think that the fact that we pensioners have less things that we can’t put off also helps us to give ourselves permission to sort of wallow in such thoughts if we are not careful and little problems manage to grow into big ones.  I am trying to cure myself of the habit.

I have been trying to find ways of not letting one little idea overtake my whole being for so much time, I took a look at what the internet had to offer by way of a solution and found quite a lot of information.  So just in case you find yourself doing the same thing from time to time, I would like to share what I found.

I was surprised at just how many people have written about what to do, which has gone some way to confirming my suspicions that I am not alone in this, and now that I have found a few suggestions, I would like to pass them on.

WD, Erith

WD shares her findings…

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