Thoughts are powerful | Change your thoughts, Change your life

Thoughts Are Powerful

Your thoughts are so powerful they have created your life. And your thoughts will create your future!

The good news is you can change your thoughts. You hold your future in your mind!

Recently, I realized I was waking up every morning thinking “I am struggling”. Upon further observation, I realized I was using the words “I am struggling”: throughout my day. I said it ALL. Of. THE. TIME.  As if it were an excuse. “I am struggling to get out of bed”,” I am struggling to eat right.”  “I am struggling to get everything done.” “I am struggling to….”  And on and on it went.

So why does this even matter? It’s just a thought after all!

Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life

It turns out, our thoughts control what we do. I knew this theoretically but I didn’t believe it in my soul. It feels woo-woo to me. There is nothing concrete about changing your thoughts.

I have often heard the quote:

Watch your thoughts, they become your words; watch your words, they become your actions; watch your actions, they become your habits; watch your habits, they become your character; watch your character, it becomes your destiny. by Lao Tzu

But I have always thought about this in correlation with being a good person. Don’t think bad thoughts so you don’t do bad things mentality. Every time it is referred to in church it is about committing sin and pornography.

In Proverbs 23:7 is says:

For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.

So if you think good thoughts, do you do good things?

When I think “I am struggling”,  I imagine I am in the middle of a big ocean treading-water with the waves splashing in my face. Survival is my only thought. I am not trying to get to shore because I will die if I try. So, I just continue treading water in the middle of the ocean. There are waves crashing into me constantly, big ones, medium ones, and small ones. Every time I catch my breath another one hits.

No rest for the drowning

When the water calms, I lay on my back and float. I can rest. But, there is no way I could save or help someone else. Because we would both drowned. I am just barely able to keep myself alive at the moment. I see no hope that I can move out of this mess and get myself to shore. So I mindlessly tread water, in the middle of the ocean, with waves hitting me in the face, fighting for my life. Every day. Because I think “I am struggling”. A thought I repeat to myself over and over again, multiple times a day.

Because of this, my day looks like this:

1. Wake up: think “I am struggling.”
2. Drag myself out of bed.
3. Pray.
   • Plead with God about my struggles.
   • Pray and ask who I can help.
   • Think “there is no way I can help anyone”.
4. Struggle through work.
5. Eat whatever I find.
6. Do what is urgent.
7. Collapse into bed.
8. Repeat.

Have you thought this?

• That was dumb.
• Why are you so stupid?
• I am soooo awkward.
• There is no way I could ever do that.
• Nobody likes me.
• I have no friends.
• So and so does it way better than me.
• I don’t feel loved. Go here to read how to feel more love. Hint: it has to do with your thoughts.

And on and on we go.

What if there were a different way? What if you could start moving toward the distant shore? What would that look like?

Changing your thoughts is simple and hard

Could it be that simple? I change my thoughts and everything changes?

Yes! It is that simple. But unfortunately, it is hard to do. Some of the thoughts we think have been around for a long time. Most of our thoughts we believe to be true. It would feel strange to stop believing what you believe is true, wouldn’t it?

How to change your thoughts

Step 1:

The first step is to get all of your thoughts out on paper. Just start writing. I find it easiest to choose a subject or an emotion but the goal is to just get it all out of your head.  Brain dump all of your thoughts out on paper.

Step 2:

Take a look at all of those thoughts that are swirling around in your head. Crashing like waves into you, circling like sharks around you, looming on the horizon as a storm about to burst over you.

Step 3:

Now, destroy that paper! Rip it up, burn it, whatever it takes to get rid of it. While at the same time saying that these things are not true.

Step 4:

It’s time to open up your journal and write down some things that you are grateful for. Fill yourself up with positive affirmations. And say at least one of those things to yourself for the rest of the day.

Step 4:

Rinse and repeat.

This is what it looked like when I changed my thoughts:

Before:

• Thought: I am struggling
• Feeling: Desperation
• Action: I stay where I am and keep working to survive.
• Result: I keep struggling and I make no progress toward not struggling.

After:

• Thought: You’ve got this!
• Feeling: Confident
• Action: I take action.
• Result: I begin to make progress every single day.

What?????  Yep. It’s simply that hard.