”Choose your thoughts carefully. Keep what brings you peace and let go what doesn’t. Happiness is only one thought away” - Nishan Power
While I was unsubscribing from the many emails that come unbidden to me, I realized that we can use the same process to thoughts that come to us, quickly deleting the ones that do not support us.
Daily, each of us have between 15,000-17,000 thoughts that come into our minds. Many of these thoughts are fleeting, while some are captured by the mind. They are then filtered quickly in a systematic process for us to either reject or accept.
It is here that we create change and or response. We have the choice to reject or accept a thought. We have the choice whether we want to allow it in, ruminate and roll it around our mind or outright reject.
As when scrolling through our email box that is filled with unwanted items, we can begin to be aware of each thought as it comes in. This awareness allows us to make a decision whether it’s a thought that will help or hinder us. 85% of our thoughts are circulating thoughts of the same thing day after day. If those thoughts are one of worry, doubt and negativity, our results and behaviors are going to show that we are anxious about situations in our life. Worry is a feeling that we have about something taking place in the future.
When we take the time to be aware of the thought coming in, we decide whether we want to invite that worrying thought in or not. By outright rejecting it, we don’t invite the negative, worrying thought in, and we’re able to be more present and then choose a better serving and positive thought.
A second benefit of scrolling through our daily thoughts and rejecting fearful or doubtful thoughts is that we think more clearly and see things for what they really are, situations that happen and are awaiting a response. That response can either be a negative, reactive type response of doom and gloom followed by an action that harms us or it can be a positive, calm thoughtful response that helps us to see that the present situation is just that, a neutral situation, and that we can choose the emotion and response we want to bring to that situation.
And the third benefit by using the awareness and rejection process is that we then can make a decision based on thoughtful calmness rather than a reactive decision based on our thoughtless, automatic reaction to the situation.
Give some thought as to why you’re having the response you are, and reflect on what fear or threat you’re feeling. And then coming from that feeling, choose to make a decision based on love, support, and calmness. This is how change is made.
So, while you go about your day, let those thoughts roll in and be aware of when you’re circulating the same negative thought, and then hit reject and release those negative, doubtful, fearful thoughts and subscribe to the better feeling, more kindly, loving, positive thought. Think about how you want to feel in this situation, what learning can make you grow and decide right then to respond with a thoughtful, positive thought to a situation that’s bothering you.
Let those thoughts flow, immediately reject and let go of those you don’t want and replace with a thought that is thoughtful and supports what you want. Change your thoughts and you change your response which changes your behavior and actions toward the situation.
You are an incredibly resilient individual that has control over how you react or respond and what you choose to let in. Start today with giving yourself the gift of rejection and unsubscribing from negative thoughts, the gift of being thoughtful, and reflective, and choosing how you want to respond rather than taking action with reactive, thoughtless, and negative behavior.
