Mosquito Bites and Thoughts | @caroline-cavanagh | The Anxiety Alchemist

I'm guessing at some point you've probably been bitten by a mosquito. You get a little gnat bite, and if you focus on that gnat bite, perhaps give it a little bit of an itch, suddenly it really starts itching because you're giving your focus, you're giving it your attention. However, if you then get distracted and do something else, suddenly it stops itching again. So negative thoughts are actually very similar to gnat bites, which sounds a bit weird, and actually it is, but hey, let's live with it. If you give a negative thought your attention, it's like scratching that bite. It's suddenly very real and it can be very, very irritating. But if you get distracted, suddenly that negative thought loses all of its power and doesn't distract you anymore. So remember that next time you are focusing on a negative thought and it's really irritating, just distract yourself because it soon won't irritate you anymore.