POWER THOUGHTS
The great Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said,
“Rarely do we find men who willingly engage in hard, solid thinking. There is an almost universal quest for easy answers and half-baked solutions. Nothing pains some people more than having to think.”
Welcome to the third installment of this series! We've discussed being over doing, time management, and today we´re going to learn about mind habits. If we can get our ¨control center¨ working, we'll be able to tackle laziness and other issues with the right tools.
Dr. Caroline Leaf is a godly woman, communication pathologist, cognitive neuroscientist, and author of many best-sellers such as Switch On Your Brain. She says, “Thoughts are real, physical things that occupy mental real estate. Moment by moment, every day, you are changing the structure of your brain through your thinking. When we hope, it is an activity of the mind that changes the structure of our brain in a positive and normal direction.”
Last year, I decided to study my thinking patterns and asked the Lord to help me renew my mind. There were old thoughts that were simply no longer serving me in light of the life I want to build. Today, I want to share with you seven power thoughts I adopted last year. I repeat these out loud, write them down, and align negative thoughts to this new way of thinking. Slowly but surely, my mind is getting healthier and happier. This doesn't have to be a year of sadness, frustration, or worry. While we leave the impossible things up to God, we can focus on changing the things within our reach: our thoughts!
My 7 power thoughts:
1. ¨I can do hard things!¨ (Phil 4:13) We tend to resist hard things, but challenging situations can actually bring out the best in us. Not everything has to be a crisis, when I tell myself that I can do hard things, I grow through things instead of just going through them.
2. ¨Things don't have to be perfect to be great.¨ Romans says that God works out all things for good, let's live in that truth! Another thought that follows the same line is: I don't pursue perfection because I can walk in fullness today.
3. Worry puts us in a lacking state of mind, but gratitude focuses our eyes on how rich we truly are. The power thought is: ¨Worry has no place in my life, instead, I cultivate gratitude.¨
4. ¨Maybe it's not about me.¨ I am learning that sometimes it's not really about me and the challenge I am facing, but about offering comfort to someone whose heart is just as vulnerable as mine. Something I´ve been praying is, ¨Lord, help me see and experience this in light of eternity¨.
5. ¨I have the mind of Christ!¨ When thoughts of worry, fear, sadness, failure, and anger try to distract me I remember I´m not a slave to negative thinking. My thoughts are not my master, my thoughts are here to serve me. This means we can reject thoughts of condemnation, guilt, and despair. Fill your mind with God thoughts!!!
6. ¨How I think and feel about the situation doesn't have to be the truth I believe. God has the final word.¨ Not everything we think and feel is truth. I´m learning to align my thoughts and feelings to what God has said and promised. Thoughts are thoughts and feelings are feelings; they are valid but do not need to be accepted if they do not serve us.
7. ¨Thought, I challenge you!¨ I don't have to accept every thought that comes, or even the feelings that follow it. I´m learning to challenge negative thinking, small thinking, victim-thinking. Challenge it with the truth I have planted in my heart. It takes practice and mental energy, but just like a muscle, the more we work it out, the stronger we get!
Something that's been really helpful is to journal. I have a separate journal I use to document thinking patterns. When I feel overwhelmed by a situation, I write:
Then, I pray and ask God to help me respond in light of eternity. I discovered I could drop a lot of the drama if I stopped focusing on me. What if my pain today can teach me something for tomorrow? What if my vulnerability today is meant to produce compassion for my neighbor? What if this situation doesn´t stop me on the way, but leads me to prayer instead?
Mental health and our spiritual lives are not separate things. God created us spirit + soul + body. He is the source for all three parts. This means our mental health is just as important, and I'd even say an extension of our relationship with God. Feed your spirit with the Word, let His truth restore your thinking, heal your heart, and empower your life! See you Thursday for the last installment of the series!
“Use me, God. Show me how to take who I am, who I want to be, and what I can do, and use it for a purpose greater than myself.” MLK
