Minding your mind means paying attention to what you are thinking and also recognizing when your mind is in charge rather than you! We often find ourselves thinking things that are not in our best interest, repeatedly thinking the same thing as if worrying about it or obsessing about it affects the outcome. The underlying thought is something like this, “If I worry about it enough, then it means that I really care” or “If I think about this enough, the thing I dread won’t come true.” Faulty thinking all the way around.
You get to be charge of what you think. Your mind is a tool for you to use and it is often like an unruly two year old child, jumping from one thought to another or focused on one thing to the exclusion of everything else. And, as with a two year old, you will want to begin redirecting it. Sometimes that looks a bit like Scarlett O’Hara – “I’ll think about that tomorrow.” And, sometimes it’s as silly as telling your mind, “Thank you for sharing, but I am going to think about something else right now.” Either way, you begin the process of letting your mind know that you are going to be in charge and are going to think what you want to think. Give it a try and see how often you have to redirect your thoughts in the beginning. And remember, like that two year old child who is focused on something, you simply pick up the child, turn it in another direction and say, “Look at this.” You will begin to give yourself more space to live the life you want to live.
I fully agree with this. i was actually talking to johnny about something similar last night.
-Janet Lee
I have been watching my mind lately and it is being very active. I actually have been pondering the second sentence to this post for the past 5 minutes. Yikes! Many many thoughts. Time to redirect!
Thanks for reminding me about minding my mind…..I forget regularly and find myself having to stop… now I’ll reuse that old “thank you for sharing ” and move on.
This reminds to remember what I already know and use it!
Oh wise Guide friend of mine…thanks for providing the kick I occasionally need to get back on track!!!!
You’re welcome and “thank you for sharing” is such a simple reminder that we don’t have to believe everything we think.
There is a Bible verse that talks about “taking every thought captive”. It has helped me recognize how often I obsess over some thought, idea, etc. I literally visualize lassoing (?) the thought and dragging it into where ever I want it to be! I am a picture person. I also like to think on “whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things”. From the Bible once again. Good book to read.
I love the image of your lasso!