Something on your mind?

Something on your mind?

Here's a little experiment: pay attention to the way you think for just one day. There's a little running commentary going on in all our brains, one that we quite often tune out or outright ignore. As you do all that daily routine stuff, like making your bed or choosing your clothes for the day, when your mind is free to wonder, what kind of thoughts pop into you head? Are they positive; like "what a great day" or "I wonder what will happen at work/school?". Or do they lean towards the negative; like "Oh God, not another day" or "I don't want to____ (go to work, clean the house, call my mother, etc)."? They might even be focused on a certain thing, such as an unresolved issue or a goal, or they could be self-critical (or judgmental of others!). Perhaps they seem harmless, especially since we hardly notice them, but they have much more influence than we realize. They guide us, whether we are conscious of it or not, to behave in certain ways that can easily sway the outcome of our day, even our entire lives.

So if, after your experiment of "tuning in" for day, you discover that your thoughts are negative, or that they lean in a certain direction, what do you do about it? Staying aware is the first step - if you slip back into zombie-mode, you no longer have the power to stop damaging thoughts. You could learn some thought-stopping techniques (like writing your own positive thoughts and replacing the nasty ones as often as possible). Most of all, you should work on the outlook that is giving rise to these thoughts. How can you change self-critical behavior, for example:? Boost your self-esteem!

Your own thoughts are telling you something...the least you could do is listen!

by T.L. Scribe