I have been thinking a lot about what I feed my mind lately. Water is very important, and green stuff plus protein, but today I am talking about words. We need to protect our minds and make sure that our word nourishment is more powerful than ever.
We all feel a little… not right? I mean there has just been so much ugliness in the world lately. Wars and pandemics, and nasty politics have all converged on our lives at one time and sometimes it just feels crushing.
I am not at all telling you to NOT be aware of what is going on in the world. That is important. I am just saying turn off the noise sometimes. The TV, the radio, even people. Yes, turn them off.
Our positive input has to be more than the negative. We must work to feed our mind positivity and encouragement. This is a form of meditation. It does not have to be hard. If you are lucky enough to get ten minutes alone in the car or wherever that is all you need to get started.
First, sit alone with your thoughts. What is floating to the top of your mind? Are you worried? Are you berating yourself? Are you tempted to call it quits? Your thoughts feed your mind first. Get a handle on what they are because those thoughts run on auto play in the background of your mind all day long.
Write down what is floating to the top of your mind. Many of us will be surprised by the tapes we are allowing to play so freely. If your thoughts are overwhelmingly negative know that these messages are literally weighing you down. When you dare take a moment to dream it is these very thoughts that are telling you that you can’t. A lot of us are not even aware these thoughts exist or that they are as plentiful as they truly are.
After you write down these thoughts that are playing in your mind- face them head on. Deal with them. Handle them like you would an unwelcome guest in your home. You deserve better. It does not matter who you are, where you come from, or anything at all that you have ever done. We are all worthy of starting over. All of us.
Have this same talk with the children in your life. We form these patterns early. Take the list of negativity floating in your mind and prepare a list to counter these thoughts. For example, if the thought is “my dreams are silly,” counter that with “if your dreams aren’t scary they are not big enough” or “dreams are the right of every human being, including me”.
Here is another one: if the thought is, “I can’t do anything right,” counter that with “I did 99 things right today- why am I beating myself up over the one thing that did not go as planned”.
If these thoughts are overwhelming, please contact a licensed therapist for help working through this negative self-talk. It is important to have an entire toolbox ready to combat such negative thinking and a therapist can help you build one. Some of us are afraid of sitting in silence or of being alone, even of not having the TV on 24 hours a day. As long as some other noise is running in the background it keeps us from dealing with the truth about what we really think. Do not be afraid to find out what it is you really feed your mind. Just be prepared to address it head on. You deserve better. This is not just something I say to be nice. If YOU are reading this article then I am talking to YOU. YOU deserve better. You are worthy of empathy and kindness. You deserve to be free of guilt and fear. You deserve to listen to your heart. You deserve the time and the mental space to work towards your dreams.
Give this a try and email me at info@makeawaymedia to let me know how it goes. You deserve this.
