October 2026 | Life Check-In

Explore this month’s Purple Trees.

Enter the October issue →

October 2026 — Note 2 Self

Theme of the Month

Assess & Release

Quote for the Month

“Be like a tree and let the dead leaves drop.”
— Rumi

Overwhelm/Overload

One thing at a time. You don't have to carry everything at once.

Focus

ONE Choose one action. Write it down. Decide to focus only on that action.

When You Feel Stuck

Get up. Go for a walk. Come back with a fresh mind.

Motivation Affirmation

I have the energy, ambition and focus to move forward.

A Little Reminder

You don't have to do everything today.

Energy

Protect your energy for the things that matter.

For the Workday

Work with purpose. Take your breaks. Finish what you can.

Focus and Your Thoughts

What to do with your thoughts?

Learn to manage, redirect and contain your thoughts so you can focus on what matters now.

Our thoughts can influence where we direct our attention and how we use our energy. Sometimes, we get caught up in the past, worry about the future, or find ourselves going over the same thoughts again and again.

How can we manage our thoughts so they don't take up more of our attention than they deserve? How can we redirect our focus to what matters?

This series is a collection of familiar techniques and approaches for managing your thoughts and directing your attention. Use it as a reference to explore different approaches, remind yourself of techniques you already know, and return to them whenever you need them.

Different approaches may be helpful in different situations. Explore what works for you and keep the techniques you find useful at hand.

Part 1. Redirect - SRS 

October Post

Re-direct your attention.

Schedule. Recenter. Switch.

Part 2. Work It Out - Different Techniques

November Post. Coming soon.

Different ways to work through your thoughts

More techniques and approaches to explore in future posts.

About These Techniques

The techniques in this series are gathered from reading and other sources for personal exploration. They are not intended as psychological treatment or a substitute for professional advice. Different approaches work for different people and situations. Take what is useful to you to help deal with everyday challenges. Seek qualified support when dealing with serious or persistent concerns.

October 2026 - A Spritual Recentering. Past to Present.

 A Prayer to Recenter Your Thoughts and Focus on God and the Life Ahead

This continues the idea from the Explore section about repetitive thoughts and how easily they can pull our attention away from the present. See Past vs Present.

This time, let's look at it from a spiritual perspective.

What if, instead of continuing to go over the same thoughts, questions, hurts, or things we cannot change, we bring them to God and ask Him to help us let go, recenter, and return our attention to what is in front of us?

This prayer is about bringing the past to God without allowing it to take over the present, and turning our thoughts back toward Him and the life that is still ahead.

 

Dear God,

You know what I have lost, what has hurt me, what I cannot explain, and what still feels unfair. I don't need to explain it all to You.

You know the thoughts that return when I am alone. You know how my mind searches for answers that I may never receive.

Today, I ask You to help me stop living inside those questions.

Remind me that I don't have to solve what I cannot solve.
I don't have to understand everything to move forward.
Help me trust You with the things I do not understand and cannot control.
I don't have to keep reliving what has hurt me.

God, take what I cannot carry anymore.

Give me peace where I have no answers.
Give me acceptance where I have no control.
Give me strength where I feel I have lost time.
And give me courage to believe that my life is still mine.

Help me stop measuring my life against those who have hurt me. Don't let their presence or the good life they appear to have determine how I see myself.

What they have or how their life looks do not define my worth, my future, or the life You have given me.

Help me keep my eyes on You, my own path, my goals, and the good that is still ahead of me. Bring my attention back to my life.

Back to my goals.
Back to my work.
Back to the things that make me happy.
Back to the things I still want to discover, create, experience, and accomplish.

Give me fresh energy for my life.

Help me turn toward something good. Give me moments of genuine happiness. Give me excitement about my future and motivation to work toward my goals.

Bring new opportunities, new experiences, new connections, and new reasons to smile into my life.

And God, if there are things I believe I have lost, help me grieve them without allowing them to become the definition of my life.

What happened is part of my story.
It is not the whole of my story.

I give You the questions I cannot answer.
I give You the things that weigh on my heart and mind.

Please take my mind out of the past and bring me back to my life.

Help me place my thoughts, my goals, and my future in Your hands.

Help me keep my mind fixed on You and the life You have given me.

Amen.

 

If you need something shorter to return to and recenter your thoughts, here is a prayer:

God, You know what I cannot explain and what I cannot change.
I give You the questions I have no answers for.
Please take my mind out of the past and bring me back to my life.
Give me peace, energy, joy, and excitement for what is still ahead of me.
Help me focus on my goals, my work, and the good You have placed in front of me.
Help me keep my mind fixed on You and the life You have given me today.
Amen.