Q: My sister is an irrational thinker. She lives with me and is driving me crazy with her fears. She won’t get help. What should I do?
A: It sounds like your sister’s irrational thinking is robbing her of her happiness. Here are a few tips to give her and if she is resistant, just plant the seed, and perhaps with a little (or a lot) of encouragement, she will start to develop an awareness that this is only hurting her. The following tips are open for discussion:
- Have her question her thoughts and ask herself if they are even true. If she says they are, then have her examine her beliefs to determine if her mind is telling her the truth. She doesn’t have to believe everything she thinks.
- Ask her to go beyond the mind and let go: In other words, to free herself from negative thoughts and feelings by shifting any negative thoughts to positive ones.
- Incline the mind toward joy. At any given moment she has a choice to lean into the thoughts that support her happiness or fear the fear which does her no good. There are solutions to problems, so if your sister builds on what’s already working, she can improve any situation.