When you awake in the morning, do you ever pay attention to your first thoughts before you rise out of bed? Or while you are driving in the car, waiting in line at the grocery store or in the fast food line? How about when you are in the shower? What about when you make a mistake on project at work or when someone hurts your feelings? For those who do, kudos to you, your self awareness is amazing. I didn’t use to consider my thoughts until several years ago. I would never slow down long enough to “check in” with myself and see how I was doing much less what I was thinking about unaware, and would only respond to how I felt at that time. And to be honest, that contributed to a lot of bad decisions and poor choices in my life, and even wasted time I will never get back. Once I began paying to attention to what I was thinking I began to learn several things about myself. I learned that I was self focused and self centered, prideful, judgmental, full of anxiety and had a fear of running out. In other words, I was obsessed with money. These attributes plagued me for years, so long I embraced them as part of my personality and would even make excuses like ” I am independent, driven, ambitious, a planner and responsible.” From the time I would wake in the morning, my thoughts would run rampant about how I hated the job, the bills, my marriage, vacations I want to go on, businesses I want to start and dissatisfaction with my life. By the end of the day, I was exhausted, discouraged and unmotivated. I battled with depression from 1999 to 2006 until I quit that job and became a stay at mom. A lot of times we think the activities of our day at work are stealing our energy when in reality, it’s our “stinking thinking.”
When we meditate on things negatively, it’s called worry. Worry today is translated into anxiety. Anxiety steals our energy because it keeps us on high alert. Your body is preparing you to fight or flee; and so it is flooded with energy so that you can respond to a threat. Then, when that adrenaline runs its course, your body goes through a crash that can leave you feeling drained. Believe it or not, this is a lifestyle for some people. They don’t feel normal if they are not worrying about something at any given moment of the day. I am here to tell you today THIS IS NOT NORMAL. This is a learned behavior and it will keep you stuck, depressed and miserable if you don’t address and manage it. The good news is, it is manageable. It is work, but it’s manageable. What I learned from working with clients in therapy is that we don’t like to do anything about our problems, we just like to vent about them. Venting is easier because we get it off our chest, people validate our feelings and then we move on until we want to vent again and we start that process all over. This is also applicable in our thought life but much more covert because we don’t always realize what we are thinking about. Before you know it you are complaining, cursing someone out, yelling at your children, considering cheating or divorce, depressed, anxious and over time even fighting suicidal thoughts and wondering “how did i get here?”
So how do we tackle “stinking thinking?” First you must identify some of the things you may be saying to yourself that is not so nice and hurting. I will use myself for example. I use scripture to address my stinking thinking because my goal everyday is to be like Christ, therefore I must think like Christ and see myself the way He sees me. One area I struggled with in my thinking is “feelings of failure.” Although I looked good on paper, the enemy would always torment with not being enough. But every feeling starts with a thought first so when the thought would enter my mind, I would say to myself
” I prosper in everything I put my hand to. I have prosperity in every area of my life- spiritually, financially, mentally and socially.” -Jeremiah 29:11. Now I mentioned in a previous post, I keep my confessions in my phone so they are ALWAYS with me when I need them. I also have scriptural confessions for other areas I struggled with like my appearance, my ability as a parent and not feeling gifted or talented. Basically insecurities that try to torment me and make me feel less than. This practice works whether you are a spiritual person or not because the brain is pliable and is always creating new neural pathways anytime we train to learn something new. Training your brain to think positively instead of negatively is much more rewarding wouldn’t you agree?
Here are some more confessions I use when I am reprogramming or casting down negative thoughts. You can also Google positive affirmations if you prefer to use non scriptural statements.
“I am not good enough.” I don’t have a spirit of fear, but of power and love and a sound mind. 2 Timothy 1:7
“I am broke and poor.” I am a giver. It is more blessed to give than to receive. I love to give! I have plenty/more than enough money to give away all the time.” Acts 20:35, 2 Corinthians 9: 7-8.
“I am not attractive.” I take good care of my body. I eat right, I look good, I feel good and I weight what God wants me to weigh.” 1 Corinthians 9:27, 1 Timothy 4:8 TLB
I hope this has been helpful for you guys! As always keep your heads high and don’t give up. Stay in communication with the Most High and he will direct your paths!
The Jolt in Your Veins 