[demk]

I do this all the time. The arguments are like automatice fantasies that just appear. I am pretty sure they simply serve the ego by feeding it with a sense of superiority and "rightness" (because in an argument you are always right and therefore superior). It is frustrating to be addicted to negativity in this way. Your mood is damaged by these thoughts and life flows less as a result. It also wastes energy.

I haven't solved it permanantly (yet) but I find that spending time each day practicing a meditation where you simply let your thoughts float by as if they are leaves on stream works well. When you simply acknowledge the thought as it appears but dont get in involved with it you can let it pass quickly and direct your thoughts to a better place. It is about developing a new level of awareness where you recognise the destructive nature of these thoughts and simply let them pass. Unfortunately it can be frustrating to have thoughts in your head that you clearly find petty but at least that shows your maturity and level of consciousness. At least its better than getting dragged into constant imaginary battles that serve no other puspose than to bolster your prefered indentity as some one who is "right" (which is impossible btw - how can you feel more right or superior to another piece of nature...there are reasons for everything and nobody is really at fault, it just is).

Hope this helps...

If anyone else has any experience with this I would love to know because I am interested in controlling these types of thoughts at the moment.