Watch your mind
OFTEN we see ‘watch your step’ but we need signs saying ‘watch your mind’! Maybe put one beside our bed …to remind ourselves to challenge thoughts before sleep and as soon as we wake. We are physically what we eat, however, we are mentally what we think.
There is a way to dispute irrational beliefs: be factual; be specific; be realistic. However, don’t expect it to be an easy task – it is a challenging one. For years you have believed and told yourself certain things and you are trying to now challenge such thoughts and beliefs. These thoughts could be childhood ones and ones that you would not even question to be thoughts, but in fact be part of you and something you believe everyone possesses!
Imagine your thought is a matter dealt in the judicial system. And people are trying to argue for and against and whether your thought is rational or not. Funnily enough we believe our own thoughts are totally rational, however, when someone tells us something they are really worried about we often find ourselves thinking…wow why would someone worry about that?
So, next time a thought that bothers you in some way or makes you feel uncomfortable, challenge it and imagine a friend telling you the thought and see if it seems rational. In a 3-step process…
1. catch the irrational thought
2. challenge it
3. re-design it so it is nicer to ponder
An example thought to be challenged: “I have no friends”. You might think this because an incident happened that day where you felt left out or alone. Is that really true? Think…who else do you spend time with over a month. Was today just a bad day?…a bad situation? What can I do to feel better? I actually didn’t do anything and I was just minding my own business and it happened around me. Maybe I was in a difficult situation. I am a good friend. Sometimes being a good friend has its challenges. I will just write that incident off as a tricky one and I will try to avoid being the third wheel in that group again.
Watch you mind!
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