I'll just tell ya right now, I suck at it. It's work and it takes a constant re-direction to get me back on track. I have Merc in Scorpio in the 9th.

I figured with Merc in Scorp right now would be a good time to ask. What about you?

I've had no choice but to develop ways of doing this.  Basically I have become pretty adept at directing my attention so I am focused on what I want to be focused on.

This pisses people off by the way. But it's got to be done, at least it's necessary in my life.

I do better some days than others!

I can have a really obsessive day, but they're rare. I really have to block them because they can take control and I don't like it when I can't tell myself to relax.

i'm not great at it, but thanks to aqua mercury and mars in 11th house, my noggin is multidirectional and loves distractions, so i don't get stuck on them too long. i switch gears pretty fast- sometimes this is good and sometimes bad.

i had a bad bad time of it when not even my aqua could buoy me- that was during my saturn return (cancer 4th house) and boy was i tortured by obsessive thoughts.

but i learned that action is the key to breaking free of them, thanks to this transit. action, and- for me,- structure and routine keep me on track.

i admire Elsa's focused attention. i don't think i'd much care if it pissed people off, if i could struggle just a little less to be a bit more focused.

i can redirect the energy, but i have a hard time keeping it on track a lot.

makes sense guys. for me, when I'm obsessing over something I'm always thinking it is there for a reason. You know, I'm supposed to learn (9th house) something from it. And then I've spent a whole day obsessing and accomplished nothing really. I'll lose hours, days..you know. I do have a better handle than i used to.

I am obsessive. But I've learned to focus or re-focus some. Though last night that was not obvious. I got into three boxes and fell into the past. I also used to obsess (in my mind) about lovers (past or current). I've curbed that quite a bit as well. Though, again, last night that wasn't obvious. Yes. Generally obsessive in thought. I have to kick my ass. Re-direct, as you put it.

Merc in cancer 12th, conjunct Pallas, trine Neptune in Scorpio. Sextile Venus. Square Saturn in the 9th in Aries.

This current activity in Scorpio is probably not helping me curb this tendency. As Merc and Venus are currently exactly on my Neptune (which is conjunct Vesta.)

i'm not very good at it :(

obsessive thoughts almost give me a "high" does anyone else get that? I mean, it's not like a droning obsession. It's like exhilaration

oh yes. i get that. it's like rocket fuel.

ugh, I am very bad at it too... one of my biggest areas of work.

Not very well.  Once I get obsessed with something, anything, it's all over with. 

@Josi: If the obsessive thought makes you feel good, perhaps it isn't a 'bad' thing.

good point Wizron

My obsessive thoughts are about finding a solution to a problem most of the time. Sometimes it's about how I can get something (ex. computer).

This gets tricky because you are the obsessive thought. Remember the observer is the observed.

It's very hard.. I seem to have this hard-wired need to ''figure everything out''.. my mind is overdrive analyzing and obsessing over something or another if I don't make the conscious effort to be alert enough to catch myself and stop. I try to practice observing my thoughts with detachment when it gets out of hand, remind myself to come back to the moment and what's right in front of me NOW and focus on that and not obsessively analyze the past or potential outcomes in the future. Especially when it's negative thoughts.

Since pluto's been transitting my 3rd house capricorn... has not exactly made this process easier!.

Depends on how indulged I feel in the obsession. I find nervous obsessions easy to set aside as I don't enjoy the feeling of nervousness.

Sexual obsession, I' m much better at wrangling that now that I've had a baby. I'm hormonally a little more balanced than I used to be. Having a baby was really good for my body. But I still gotta get some on a regular schedule or I start to get weird. I just don't turn into Vampira anymore.

P.S. Yogah cittavritti nirodhah - Yoga is mindstuff-flux control 

I'm not super obsessive (Mercury/Uranus opposed) but sometimes when I'm riding around I get hooked into song lyrics. "You're so vain" has been in my head on repeat since I heard it in a shop yesterday.

Of course I sing everything to the tune, too.

To the cat

"You're so furry...you probably think this fur is about you"

To the fridge

"You hum so loud, your probably think the hum is about you, don't you, don't you!"

on and on and on and on

lmao @ kash! I love that song. And thanks for spreading the sickness, I'll be singing it all evening I'm sure.

Wizron, there's plenty of stuff out there that makes me feel "high" and they arent good for me..really. My Pisces moon will tell you, "please, don't encourage her."

if i don't control it, i can obsess until i work myself into fits of anxiety and panic. 

it is totally like a burst of energy, but not one i ever apreciate. 

scorp sun/merc doesn't let anyone sleep if he's got the chance.....  and the virgo moon gets frantically swept away with it all

but i use my cap/libra bits to force msyelf to view things from an objective perspective...  and usually this helps calm the raging thoughts. lots and lots and lots of rationalization.  just so long as i'm rationalizing an inteligent point rather than the wacked out imagined stories of the rest. 

I act like a detached air sign!

Lots of Pluto - I can run with it or distract during the day but when it kicks off at night and keeps me awake I find Bach Remedy White Chestnut helps to regain a sense of proportion

I obesssively worry about things that may or may not come to pass. I ask myself:

"Is there ANYTHING you could be doing, right now, that would influence the outcome/fix the situation/change anything?"

If the answer is "no", I tell myself to put it on ice and worry about it later.

This is especially effective for the "laying awake in bed at night" worrying.

I don't!

Wish I was better at that, I am always obsessing about something.

no problem, josi!

best way to get rid of it is like getting rid of hiccups--pass the song to someone else!

I'm better at it than I used to be.  :)  One thing I am forever grateful to my short stint in therapy for was my therapist giving me a handle on my obsessive thoughts at the time: indulge for a set time (seriously, set an alarm), then once your time is up do something else.  Sometimes I give myself a "reward" of obsessing once I get a goal accomplished; that way I don't waste time.  :)  Shit still gets done!

Mostly, though, I don't obsess over much.

"laying awake in bed at night" worrying.

omg Luci, that is the worst