Lies…Lots of Lies
“Change what you can change and acknowledge and accept what you can’t.” – Rodney Williams
One of the statistics I’ve written about at least ½ dozen times is the number of thoughts the average person has each day. For the new members to the group, that magic number is 60,000. That’s a lot of thinking right there. I learned a couple more stats that apply to the 60,000 thoughts a day.
Of that 60,000, 57,000 (95%) of the thoughts are a repeat of thoughts from the previous day and they day before. The next statistic makes you wonder even more. Of the 60,000 thoughts a day, 45,000 (80%) are negative thoughts. So you end up with 45,000 repeatable negative thoughts a day. Ugh! As you look at those numbers, you are probably thinking, no wonder so many people appear to be negative, down, and pessimistic. Something’s gotta give.
Well! There is one little thing that people miss. Sometimes our brains and emotions lie to us. How many times have you thought something about someone or some event only to find out it wasn’t true? Isn’t it funny that we assume all our thoughts to be gospel yet we will question what people tell you, what you see on the TV or what you may read? Why can’t we apply a little questioning to our thoughts? After all, we have control over them. It takes effort to change the way you think. Learn to question your mind, acknowledge that negativity exists but is not always true, and shift your thinking towards thoughts that bring you happiness and joy. It is do-able. Just like any other acquired skill, it just takes effort and time. You just have to do The Work.
Action Item – Challenge your brain when you feel overwhelmed by negative thoughts. It may indeed be lying to you.
POSITIVE NEWS
We Did It
My Aunt Linda joins us today. She is # 99. We have one more to go for our first big milestone. Welcome Linda.
Judi’s friend Janet also joined and makes our number officially 100 members. Welcome to our little slice of goodness, Janet.
Sand Paper at Work
I stopped by Velvet after dinner last night to say hi to Cookie. There were two guys in there talking and having a good time but quite loud. The noise was wearing on me a little and I was about to leave when I felt my spirit say wait. So I did. I ended up meeting both guys. One is a friend of Cookie’s and the other, Larry, is a recent transplant from Colorado that works for My Fit Foods. We ended up talking for a bit and Larry was so appreciative to be in Texas and experience the kindness of us Texans, thanked me for talking with him, and bought me two beers. What was the sand paper moment? Larry just needed someone to listen, and I needed a little quick lesson on patience to wait something out to see where it’s going.
“Change what you can change and acknowledge and accept what you can’t.” – Rodney Williams
One of the statistics I’ve written about at least ½ dozen times is the number of thoughts the average person has each day. For the new members to the group, that magic number is 60,000. That’s a lot of thinking right there. I learned a couple more stats that apply to the 60,000 thoughts a day.
Of that 60,000, 57,000 (95%) of the thoughts are a repeat of thoughts from the previous day and they day before. The next statistic makes you wonder even more. Of the 60,000 thoughts a day, 45,000 (80%) are negative thoughts. So you end up with 45,000 repeatable negative thoughts a day. Ugh! As you look at those numbers, you are probably thinking, no wonder so many people appear to be negative, down, and pessimistic. Something’s gotta give.
Well! There is one little thing that people miss. Sometimes our brains and emotions lie to us. How many times have you thought something about someone or some event only to find out it wasn’t true? Isn’t it funny that we assume all our thoughts to be gospel yet we will question what people tell you, what you see on the TV or what you may read? Why can’t we apply a little questioning to our thoughts? After all, we have control over them. It takes effort to change the way you think. Learn to question your mind, acknowledge that negativity exists but is not always true, and shift your thinking towards thoughts that bring you happiness and joy. It is do-able. Just like any other acquired skill, it just takes effort and time. You just have to do The Work.
Action Item – Challenge your brain when you feel overwhelmed by negative thoughts. It may indeed be lying to you.
POSITIVE NEWS
We Did It
My Aunt Linda joins us today. She is # 99. We have one more to go for our first big milestone. Welcome Linda.
Judi’s friend Janet also joined and makes our number officially 100 members. Welcome to our little slice of goodness, Janet.
Sand Paper at Work
I stopped by Velvet after dinner last night to say hi to Cookie. There were two guys in there talking and having a good time but quite loud. The noise was wearing on me a little and I was about to leave when I felt my spirit say wait. So I did. I ended up meeting both guys. One is a friend of Cookie’s and the other, Larry, is a recent transplant from Colorado that works for My Fit Foods. We ended up talking for a bit and Larry was so appreciative to be in Texas and experience the kindness of us Texans, thanked me for talking with him, and bought me two beers. What was the sand paper moment? Larry just needed someone to listen, and I needed a little quick lesson on patience to wait something out to see where it’s going.
Rod, patience is a virtue...one example is Panhead John, if you didn't have patience you'd be in prison.
ReplyDeleteNow that is funny.
ReplyDelete