Compulsive Behavior.

Response:

In a general sense, obsessive compulsive behavior is a psychological defensive response to try to impose order and control over a feeling of lack of control in your life. Since life is fundamentally unpredictable and uncontrollable from the ego mind, this controlling behavior will not work and will not address the underlying fear and anxiety. But the compulsive mind doesn’t know what else it can do, so it continues it’s compulsive behavior even though it doesn’t help.

The long-term solution is to develop your self-awareness fully so that you feel comfortable with the uncertainty, ambiguity, and the mysterious nature of life. That means having a strong spiritual core that knows it can handle whatever comes along in life. You don’t need to control the world, because it is not a threat to your essential nature. Nothing that happens can diminish or harm your true self. Furthermore, it implies that you will not only survive the uncertainties of life, but actually thrive through them because you know your life is progressing and growing through these unexpected events. You feel your higher self orchestrating your evolution beyond the understanding and control needs of your ego mind.

When you recognize obsessive compulsive behavior in yourself, take a few breathes all the way down to your abdomen, and remember what it felt like when you were deep in meditation or another peaceful state where you felt safe and confident. Reflect that this feeling of wasn’t the result of controlling a situation, it was you true natural state of being. You can feel comfortable and at ease even if you do not have certainty or control. Every time you notice your compulsive behavior, easily come back to this center of ease, and then affirm that you will proceed into action with this state of ease.
The behavior may not change all at once, but gently keep at it and eventually you will retrain your brain to act from balanced awareness, instead of fear.

Love,

Deepak