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Comment by sridca | Hacker News Reader

> let those negative anxious thoughts pass by rather than consume you.

Lol, I'd much rather prefer for those negative anxious thoughts to not occur in the first place (and there is a superior method to achieve this), much less having to have to let them pass by or consume me. This is why meditation is not a solution.

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Changing my perspective from "I wish I didn't have these thoughts/feelings" to "how can I deal with these thoughts/feelings productively" was a game changer for me.

Trying to suppress your thoughts is not a solution either, that just gives them more weight. When you let them by, you realize that they were not worth the attention in the first place, and they fade away over time. There is no quick fix.

suppression != not-occurring

Unfortunately I think you'll find that not everything can be solved, and that you'll always have some anxiety. It would actually be strange if you didn't, everyone has these thoughts every so often. The trick is to not let them take over you, and just move on.

I suspect you're doing this without realizing it; you're analyzing your anxieties until you understand them, and then they stop happening over time as you stop giving them so much attention.

I've met people who have eliminated all of their anxieties (and more), so it is certainly possible. I do not armchair analyze or suppress feelings (sincerity is an essential ingredient). There is no need to guess; you could just ask me as to how I investigate and eventually eliminate; though mind you it will likely conflict with much of your cherished values about humanity :-P

Sure, would you mind explaining what you did?

It takes some effort to grasp the method of actualism, so I've linked the wiki below[1] if you're interested in exploring further (most people run away at this stage :P), but the basic method is to feel good, as a bottom-line, each and every moment again ... and sincerely explore (neither withdrawing nor psychoanalyzing) any hindrances to that feeling good until one can clearly see the silliness (whatever it is) of it preventing one from enjoying this moment (which clear seeing is sufficient to get back to feeling good). It is as simple as that (and, before you bring up any parallel, it is 180 degrees opposite to any meditation/ stoicism practices that HN is so fond of).

[1] https://github.com/ActualFreedom/home/wiki

Freedom from the human condition is not a goal I want to pursue. It sounds self-negating

What is the depth of emotion that you can experience if you are constantly trying to feel good?

Most people will experience anxious/negative feelings throughout their life, and improving how they handle them will be useful on all those occasions. I don’t know how you think you are going to prevent this from happening to you - perhaps you are thinking specifically of an anxiety disorder or other extreme?

I've successfully disarmed myself off most of the normal everyday anxieties by investigating them one by one. What's left will also go away in due time.

Drop too many packets that way and you'll be missing out on potentially valuable data you can use for introspection.

Also, while negative thoughts are not pleasant, learning to maintain your sense of self while under duress (whether internally or externally derived) can be very useful.

I'm curious to hear about your solution / "superior" method though, even if I am skeptical for the reasons given above.

If you can manage to momentarily step outside of that stockholm syndrome towards anxiety, you'll find that the human brain is remarkably capable of living and solving problems without the burden of anxiety.

See my other comment about the method I practice.

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