Be Careful How You Think

I've posted here previously about negative thoughts and how they can be harmful to you.  No matter how many times I remind myself to stop with the negative thoughts and worry, they still seem to creep back up on me. 

Yesterday's Daily Hope with Rick Warren was about "Influential Thoughts" and how our thoughts influence our lives.  Despite all my Bible studies and absolute love of Proverbs, I somehow missed this little verse...

"Be careful how you think; your life is shaped by your thoughts".  Proverbs 4:23

Here's some snips from "Influential Thoughts" with some added insights from me...

"It's not what happens to me that matters as much as how I choose to see it." - This is certainly no joke.  With all the changes in my life, I find that I am much more at ease when I look at the changes as an opportunity rather a roadblock.  So I'm going through a divorce - well now I can do those things that I never got to do while I was married like go to the 9/12 March on Washington or the Restoring America Rally in DC.  Diagnosed with uncontrolled diabetes? - Hey there's my excuse to start eating healthy and getting in daily exercise.  It's much healthier than stewing in your own bitter juices at the hand life has dealt you.

"Your beliefs influence your behavior" - If I believe that life is handing me a big old crap burger, then I'm gonna act like someone holding a big old crap burger.  If I believe that God is in control and nothing happens without a reason, then I am free to let go of the worry and focus on the positive.  It's much easier to laugh when you're not drowning in worry.

"You self-talk influences your self-esteem" - If there were physical signs from mentally "beating yourself up", I would be just one big old massive walking bruise.  I know that I am hypercritical of myself and a thousand times more critical than I would be to a friend.  I'm sure you've felt this before.  Why do we treat others better than we treat ourselves? We hurt ourselves worse than any living being could ever damage us.

Remember there are several tricks to stopping the negative chatter in your head - anything from yelling "shut up" to proclaiming "get thee behind me Satan" to popping yourself with a strategically placed rubber band to distract your thinking.  But I think that memorizing certain Bible verses is the best way to focus your thoughts - not only does it open your heart to God but it closes the door on Satan.  Reciting or reading the Bible is to Satan what water is to the Wicked Witch of the West.  It's just that we forget and let the flying monkeys take over our mind.

So find you a Bible verse that touches your heart and reminds you of how much God loves you. Post it everywhere and commit it to memory.  Let it be your Kevlar vest against Satan.

Get Rid of Those Voices in Your Head

Have you ever been working then all of a sudden your mind veers off and you start thinking "what if..." or "I should have..."?  That's nothing more than what experts call "mind chatter".  I call it a pain in the arse. My dad calls it "the devil working on you". Whatever you believe it is, this mind chatter is self-defeating and simply fuels the negativity in your life.  No one beats us up as much as we do ourselves.

So what do you do about it?  You can try to stop the chatter by thinking about something else but that only lasts a minute or two and requires your complete concentration.  You can get busy doing an activity or something that interests you but that is also subject to your complete concentration.  By that I mean you have to focus so completely on stopping the mind chatter that you end up loosing several minutes (or more) in your already crazy day.  I'm always reminded of Saturday Night Live's old episodes with "Stuart Smalley" doing the "I'm good enough, I'm smart enough and dog gone it, people like me" routine with the mirror.

My favorite trick to stop the mind chatter is to simply tell it to go away.  If I find that I am mentally beating myself up, I simply look up and yell "stop it" or "Shut up".  Now keep in mind that I work from home and have no co-workers to hear me yelling at thin air.  But you can do this mentally or even in a soft whisper - just the act of saying it clears your thoughts. If you are out in public and don't even want to hazard the whisper, keep a rubber band or elasticized bracelet of some sort on your arm.  When you hear the voices start, pop the rubber band on your wrist.  The sting will literally snap the negative talk out of your head.  It's a take-off on the old quit-smoking trick.

My Dad told me to say "Get thee behind me Satan" and that also works.  I do believe that Satan is constantly working on us - to keep us down and prevent us from realizing that we truly are gifts from God.  If the "mind chatter" doesn't respond to shut up - just one "Get thee behind me Satan" will clear my head for a significant time period. 

So try this the next time you are going all Muhammed Ali on yourself in your head.  Learning to control this negative thinking goes a long way to helping you get back on your feet.

Now if the voice in your head is telling you to do stuff - seek professional help immediately. If the voice in your head makes your head spin around on its axis and you are levitating off the bed, seek a priest STAT.