Mail bundles remind us of the times we've checked our mail to find a stack of total junk. Not one decent letter, no invitation, no postcard, no bill, nothing but junk. The distain rises in our throats because we've wasted our precious time checking the mail, only to find unadulterated junk! We wonder -- how can the post office survive? How can companies afford to send so much advertising, so often? How can one continue to endure junk, year after year?
We have several choices: We can either trash it immediately, or we can stack it up with the more important mail and allow it to pile up. Trashing it immediately is the best option. Junk mail isn't just delivered by the post offices. We receive junk texts, junk email, and a host of electronic junk. We generally use the delete key, or the block feature to deal with junk that invades our electronics.
Another source of junk, and more invasive and destructive to our well being is the "Mental Junk Mail" (MJM) we receive, and accept, on a regular basis. This junk is not only destructive but extremely distracting. We store "MJM" in our minds, which is self-imposed. This build-up makes it much more bothersome than the other forms of junk mail. We receive it via inappropriate comments from co-workers, condescending remarks from strangers, verbal slights, intended or unintended, from friends or family members, on and on. All MJM causes severe angst in the mind.
The sources of all junk seem to be unlimited as well as the ability to expand the mind to find sufficient storage for "MJM." The collective sources of "MJM" coalesce to develop Mental Improvised Explosive Devices (MIED) in our heads. We unsuccessfully try to navigate around them, but the files are so massive, due to constant deliveries and failure to stop deliveries. We categorize the files in ways that makes it remarkably easy to access. Delivery times are unpredictable and are often made several times a day. "MJM" clogs and clutters our minds.
We are all repositories of "MJM," and we continually find creative ways to navigate the MIED overload. The real challenge is how do we manage "MJM," especially MIED? No "one size or one solution" exists to conquer the problem. "MJM" has consequences for us because it entangles us and puts us in a state of constantly analyzing; we desperately try to make sense of MIED, though logic. We tend to ask: Why would someone say such a thing to me? Why didn't I respond? I don't deserve this?
After the question session, we think of what we'll do the next time, and we promise ourselves we'll be ready to respond. We comfort ourselves by saying: Everyone knows I'm not confrontational; I'm kind and nice; I'm a consummate professional. Next, we take time to feel sorry for ourselves; we engage in a pity party because we feel we have been wronged, viciously attacked. We remind ourselves that everyone knows we don't deserve the "MJM" courier's message -- we are the victims.
In reality, the courier's veracity is of no import; the "MJM" files are stored and updated often; we spend an inordinate amount of time perusing and analyzing them. We hate it, and we always promise ourselves it will stop. Nevertheless, the MIED demand attention, too much attention. MIED cloud our minds and impede our ability to let go, move forward, and focus. A stored MIED can pop-up at any time, forcing us to repeat another session.
The approach we use for tangible junk mail is instructive and simple to employ to help us delete, block, and purge MJM files -- Are we willing to use it? The process starts off very simply and incrementally. Step One: the very next time an "MJM" courier makes a delivery, we MUST delete it, immediately, which prevents its ability to coalesce with stored MIED. Like physically throwing out junk delivered to our homes, we must quickly delete MJM. Remember, when the same courier attempts to make another delivery, the permanent "block feature" is turned on. The system no longer accepts the same, similar, or related MJM; the automatic block is now activated, in our heads.
We were able to delete it the first time; now we recognize it, familiarity helps. A dear colleague offered this advice -- "if a person has smoking gun information and divulges it, then his weapon is spent," e.g., the information has lost its shock appeal. Her advice is equivalent to deleting and permanently blocking MIED; they are gone, forever! Our new method prevents the same MIED from finding file space in our heads. We no longer accept redelivery of duplicate "MJM." One attempt is sufficient because we have effectively rewritten the program, which now includes an automatic MJM blocker.
Step Two: After successfully implementing Step One, we begin to actively and aggressively sift through and purge OLD files, by deleting and blocking. These were stored prior to the implementation of Step One, which proved successful. This success prepared us to start sifting through the larger files. Step Two is similar to paying down credit card debt; we start with the cards with the largest balances because they accrue more interest and impede our ability to reduce the principal, if we only pay the minimum balance. The approach is the same for decreasing, and perhaps totally eliminating "MJM and MIED." Aggressively deleting the largest files not only enhances our ability to reduce the clog and clutter but also allows us to refocus our attention back to productive thoughts.
Our minds are powerful. We have the tools to attack the clog and the clutter that so unwittingly interfere with our wellbeing. Let's use our "mind power" to select the delete and block features so that we can start deleting, blocking, and purging "MJM" and MIED from our minds. On Your Marks, Let's Get STARTED! With a clearer mind, we are finally in the proper "mental state" to move forward!