Out with the old & in with the new ~ mental detoxification before a new year

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Around this time, a lot of thought and energy are put into making needed behavioral and mental adjustments/corrections before enjoying a healthy transition from one year to the next.

Many people prepare to make New Year’s Resolutions by reflecting on those areas they believe they didn’t succeed in during the current calendar year.

Mental detoxification, or the elimination of toxic and unhealthy thought processes, occurs when individuals honestly pursue targeted growth, improvement, and development prior to taking on the challenges of a new year.

Detoxing the mind demands transparent self-reflection; admittance about past mistakes and poorly thought-out decisions, and sometimes apologies to others if a person’s behaviors have caused minor or severe damage to interpersonal relationships.

Purposeful mental detoxification may not always be the easiest thing to do, and may even cause a certain degree of emotional and mental discomfort and strain during the process.

However, unloading the mind of unneeded dead weight, toxic and wasteful thoughts, and unhealthy and addictive mental ingredients can serve to help a person live a more fruitful, healthy, and enjoyable life in an upcoming year.

Here is a sampling of basic aids to help with the mental detoxification process:

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  Talk openly with one to three people who are closest to you about which areas your mind may need detoxing they will likely know what these areas are.  Make sure these are people who will not broadcast your inner thoughts to the world, and have live vs. virtual conversations.
  
  
  
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  If talking about the process is too difficult, try writing out your thoughts.  You may or may not decide to share these written pages with another trusted relative or friend.  Be ready to shred the hard copy pages or delete the electronic pages before the New Year begins.
  
  
  
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  Go through your paperwork and files (hard copies and electronic files) so that you can shred or delete all of the papers/documents that no longer represent who, what, and where you currently are and/or aspire to go in life.  Keeping these papers/documents to look at and brood over periodically will only take you back to a toxic mental wasteland in the New Year.
  
  
  
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  Before the close of the old year, begin putting into practice those new thoughts and new behaviors you resolve to pursue in the upcoming year.  Practice makes permanent.
  

Regardless of the course of action you may need to take to achieve a complete and cleansing mental detoxification, engaging in this process will help you achieve a degree of growth, development, improvement, and success in the year to come.  That alone makes it a worthwhile thing to do.

E-mail or post a comment to let us know of other approaches you've used to achieve mental detoxification.


Sharon M. Biggs, M.A., is a wife, mother, and 21st Century educational leader who serves as Co-Chair & President of Lifeline Foundation, Inc.  This 23-year educator is also Founder, Editor, and Chief Writer of LifelineExtensions.blog. View Sharon's other published works at http://www.examiner.com/.

Contact Sharon directly for more information: sharonbiggs@mylifelinefoundation.org

"Children are the globe's most precious commodity."
(Terence H. Biggs, Jr. ~ 2009)