Just a Thought...

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Do you ever talk to yourself? Actually, everyone does! On average, we women speak and think 40 to 60 thousand words a day. That’s a lot of words! Do you remember what your 60,000 words were yesterday? I sure don’t! Do you remember what you said to those around you? How about what you said to yourself?

Do you know that your feelings are caused by what you speak to yourself about your circumstances?

Here's an example:

A woman was on her way to work one morning and got cut off in traffic by a car going way too fast. This driver chose to think, “Wow, I hope it’s not an emergency... I hope he gets there in one piece!” She was temporarily startled, then felt somewhat concerned. She then moved her thoughts on to other matters. 



That same morning, another driver was on her way to work and got cut off in traffic by a car going way too fast. This driver chose to think “That @#%! He cut me off! I can’t believe he did that! Am I invisible?! Hey buddy, come back here! You can’t treat me like that!” The rest of the day, this driver told everyone she saw about the "crazy" driver that cut her off that morning...She allowed it to ruin the rest of her day. She felt extreme anger, and chose to hold on tightly to the “offense”.

So what made the difference in their responses? The circumstances were the same...both drivers were cut off in traffic. The difference lay in how each driver chose to think about the experience.  

Isn’t it amazing how our self talk can affect how we feel, and then how we begin to behave? In Proverbs 23:7, it says: “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.” Boy, isn’t that the truth?! We can see just how incredibly important it is to be very aware of what we say to ourselves!

This week, please join me in becoming more aware of what we’re saying to ourselves, the feelings those thoughts cause, and then how we allow them to affect our behavior. Our thought life is important to God...it really should be important to us too! Just a thought...

Love and Blessings, 

Mary