Why do my thoughts affect everything?

Hey folks! Thank you for your patience.

Burning question for today?

Our thoughts - they can be our best friend or our worst enemy. Think of a time when you felt you had no control over the things that went through your mind.

Did you know that our thoughts really do affect so many things, particularly our feelings & behaviours. I have had many a conversation as a counsellor on this topic.

There is a therapy called CBT or Cognitive Behavioural Therapy used to address this.

Excuse the big words. CBT basically explains that how we think, affects our feelings & associated behaviours.

In even simpler terms - we THINK, we FEEL, we DO!!

Take just a minute to sit & check in with the quality of your thinking.

Are your thoughts true, helpful & kind?

Or are they based on yours or others' opinions, therefore unlikely to assist you in a positive way & may make you feel even worse than you currently do.

I have a little thing I do personally when I feel as though I am overthinking.

Let's imagine a giant red stop sign in your brain. Of course, we all know what STOP means.

Once you have paused & stopped mid thought, I invite you to ask yourself, "Is this thought true?" In essence what I mean is it a FACT or OPINION?

Now we all know a fact is something backed by evidence & true, however an opinion could mean anything & is usually of our own making based on fear &/or other thoughts & feelings (mostly untrue/inaccurate/incorrect).

Once you have established whether your thoughts are indeed factual (true) or an opinion (false) ask yourself, "How is this thought making me feel?"

Does it make you want to laugh or cry? Our feelings are important messengers which show up when we need something - a hug, a good cry, to punch a pillow, or run a mile.

Therefore, the quality of your thoughts which affect your feelings may suddenly seem a bit more important. If say, you have spent the entire morning thinking you are not going to get that well-earned & deserved promotion at work, you are probably feeling sad, rejected, worthless, unappreciated, etc., get the picture?

Let's say you stick with this thought & feeling. What might you do with that?

With every thought there is an attached feeling which creates us to do something (a behaviour).

We THINK, we FEEL, we DO.

I imagine, if it were my thought & I was feeling those things, I might stay home all-day procrastinating & eating ice cream, feeling sorry for myself.

What about you?

What if you chose not to attach your time & energy to that unhelpful, untrue, negative & hurtful thought. What if you used the stop sign metaphor, asked yourself the important questions - Is it true, helpful, positive & likely to make me feel good?

You have the ability to choose one thought over another. You are not a slave to your thinking.

Your feelings are important & the things you do matter.

Choose quality over quantity when it comes to your thoughts. Be kind to yourself when choosing one thought over another. You deserve to feel happy & as you are probably already aware happiness is a choice, a birthright, & of our own making.

We THINK, we FEEL, we DO - pretty simple to remember.

Your thoughts create your feelings & behaviours.

BE KIND TO YOUR MIND...