Ever can't see the forest for the trees? Get so focused on details (the trees) that you can't see the bigger picture (the forest)?

I've been focusing on the trees lately. I got sick a week ago - a bad cold. Ever since, I've been saying to myself "I'm so mad I got this cold. This sucks. I can't do anything until I get better. Why did I get sick? I should be stronger! I shouldn't have gotten sick. Why didn't anyone else get sick?"

This lovely negative self-talk has done a disservice to me in 2 ways: 1) I have kept myself mired in negative thoughts that have affected my feelings and actions only to make me feel worse; 2) I've increased my anxiety by going down a rabbit hole of thoughts about my greater state of health.

But by beating myself up for beating myself up, I have not seen the forest for the trees. That this is an amazing opportunity to become conscious and present...

It finally dawned on me that rather than fight these thoughts, therefore keeping my mental energy vibration low and further impacting my physical energy, I need to accept them. I need to use the same tools of observation and witnessing that are fundamental to accepting WHAT IS, and noticing that thoughts are just thoughts, nothing more. To OBSERVE what I'm saying to myself and be OK with that.

Our thoughts are always there, and our egoic voice that questions our every move and wants to keep us in our comfort zone can easily go unchecked when we are sick, or have been wronged or focused on what we see as happening TO us. And we get stuck in the trees. These are actually beautiful moments to actually LOOK at what we are telling ourselves and sit with that: "Oh, that's interesting. That's an interesting thought." And that's it. We can then begin to see the forest.

Then we can address what we NEED to do to help our situation. What can I do to help myself through my cold? I can rest. I can drink lots of liquids. I can take a hot bath and watch a good movie. I can be kind to myself.

Notice the moments you're seeing the trees. Give yourself a pat on the back when you actually HEAR what your thoughts are saying, and rather than react to them, you just watch them. And then take steps to do what you need to do to address a situation. Enjoy being in the forest.