thoughts on the news of the day: think first

hmmm…..

            My current spiritual advisor and guide is teaching me to be kinder and gentler to myself.  He says that thinking negative thoughts about ourselves is a stress producer and having stress in our lives causes all sorts of mental and physical health problems. 

            I am tending to agree with him.  It’s funny how much we talk to ourselves in ways that are disrespectful and downright mean.  We say things to ourselves that we would never say to our friends or sometimes even our enemies.  My mentor’s solution is to think about what we are thinking about.  Have you ever tried to do that?  It is not so easy.  It means that we must be present to ourselves.  We must live consciously instead of moving through life and being oblivious to what we are feeding our brain.

            A friend of mine once said, “My mind is like a dangerous neighborhood, so I don’t ever go there alone.”  What she meant was that those thoughts that creep into our mind can be harmful not only to others but to ourselves.  Like a dark neighborhood, those thoughts are not at first glance very visible and since they are dangerous, it is important to guard against them. 

            I have been trying this “thinking about what you are thinking about” and it is beginning to work.  Some of the stress seems to be leaving my life.  I’ve also been praying about it.  That seems to go hand in hand with growth of any kind.  Things that seem impossible are possible with God in the equation.  At last that’s what I think.

            hmmm…..