Hi MikeG and a very warm welcome to the forums. I hope you come to find here what makes some difference to you.
When the gift of imagination feels more like a curse at times, you figure out that it's a gift that has to be seriously managed at times. It can become incredibly stressful. Btw, I've heard it said before that the nervous system cannot tell the difference between what is real and what is imagined. It feels both in similar ways. I'm glad you've taken some time off work, free time to spend on self understanding/self development/self mastery. I imagine you don't want to waste any time.
While living in the now can be a huge challenge, especially if we're in the habit of being a forward thinker, exercising focusing on what's happening now can become a new habit to master. If we have to think ahead, based on some of life requiring forward planning, I've found focusing on what's most likely going to happen can also be grounding. It's likely I'm going to wake up in the morning at a certain time, so I'll set my alarm to increase the probability and not imagine waking up late. Most likely, I'm going to have breakfast. What do I imagine that breakfast looks like? Most likely, I'll have a shower after that, based on this typically being what I do after breakfast. With tomorrow being a work day for me and my shift structure currently being re-structured to some degree (due to new owners having something to do with it), this is where my imagination begins to take off in challenging and stressful ways. With me most likely working with the people I typically work with on a Monday, who are supportive and calming, I can see myself managing through support if I need it. While I can easily imagine them phoning in sick and there being a lack of support, I have to stop imagining that otherwise I'll work up my nervous system. Now comes the art or practice of distraction or shifting focus, otherwise I can't stop imagining/focusing on and feeling the worst case scenario. While imagining can be comparable to daydreaming at times, it can involve changing the daydream so that it doesn't resemble or look like so much of a nightmare. I know, easier said than done. It can take a lot of practice before some difference is experienced and felt through such a practice.
Daydreaming about or meditating on what makes a difference can be basic or bizarre. It's up to us what we imagine that works for us. If you want to meditate on or dream about a purple talking rabbit (for example) that holds the answers to your questions, ask the purple talking rabbit in your imagination a question and listen to what it says. If such an image brings about a sense of amusement, you're feeling amusement as opposed to feeling or sensing what's stressful. If you're more of a spiritual person, you might imagine sitting with an angel and listening to or watching what the angel has to tell you or show you. It's about learning to work with a vivid imagination, as opposed to it working against you. Having someone constructively guide you through your imagination can involve looking for some guided meditations that actually work. Not all guided meditations work for all people. It can be a matter of sifting out which ones work and which are useless.
I've found that when certain gifts hold challenges that become intolerable, there's no choice but to find what works. Whether what works is to be found inside the square or outside of it, it pays to keep an open mind. When the gift of imagination torments us, there's no choice but to find what works when it comes to managing it. When the gift of being able to easily sense so much leads us to feel what's stressful and/or what's depressing, there comes to be no choice but to find what works so that we can better manage the ability to sense or feel. Btw, 'no choice' has a feel to it too. It can hold the feeling of resistance and the feeling of knowing there's a lot of work to be done. It's not easy to feel no choice.
