Calming An Overactive Brain

I have a yellow Post-It Note (Trademarked, damn right) on my PC screen that says this:
Think About Something Else
Positive Shit
Long View

I received in the mail today addressed to Laya Frances Murphy an invitation from the Institute For Brain Potential a flyer inviting me . . . er . . . her . . . to attend a new 6 hour seminar for Health Professionals on "Calming An Overactive Brain."   I know who has occupied this particular house for like 10 years and there is no L.F. Murphy in that list.  You literally cannot make this shit up. 

I've been getting feedback from different sources about accentuating the positive, even if it comes at the risk of taking some valuable time away from obsessing on the negative.  If you take the time to criticize someone every day for being stupid it's going to be hard for that individual not to internalize such criticism to some degree, especially if you're talking about someone who is very young or very callow.  I spent my formative years with a woman who was sure she was aging prematurely and about to die.  So when I toss off little remarks about "acting my age" maybe I believe this stuff a lot more than I'm admitting.  SuperK thinks so.

Another reference that I found helpful . . . 

"For mild/moderate anxiety, you can use a mindful approach.  If you fight your anxiety, you’re making it the enemy, which builds a hostile energy between you and your symptom.  Instead, befriend your anxiety.  Try to be OK with its existence, and “sit” with the feeling.  Hold it in your conscious awareness; you’re learning to observe it at a safe distance.  By not participating in it, you’re not losing yourself.  In doing this, most people report, “Whew, what a relief not to be held hostage to it; I don’t feel like a prisoner of it!”