Who was invited and who is crashing the party?
Phrases are interesting for the connotations they carry. Why do we speak of “entertaining” thoughts?
When people entertain, they make special plans. They make special food and clean the house. They invite the people they want to entertain and go to some trouble to make the experience pleasant, steering people together for interesting conversations and new acquaintance. They move from one guest to another to make sure everyone is having a good time.
But most of us don’t make these kinds of effort about the thoughts that we allow to wander randomly around our brains. We get riled up about something on Facebook or irritated by a discussion on TV or in the office. Those kinds of thoughts, while they may give us something to chat about, don’t improve our minds or our perspective on life.
The thing about a thought is that each one makes a neuron pathway through our brains. The more times we think that thought, the more attention we give it, the deeper it is hardwired into our psyche. From my own experience, on a given day there are thoughts that linger in my mind like a house guest who does not know when it is time to go home. Yet I am still “entertaining” that thought by letting it travel the same rut every day. I need a thought bouncer. I need to invite in a better class of thoughts.
The only way to make a new pathway for thoughts to travel is to entertain new thoughts in place of the old ones. This is why people write and speak affirmations, to replace (and toss out) older thoughts that they no longer want to think. The trick is to be aware of the old thoughts and consciously invite in new, more productive thoughts.
Thoughts become things. Which thoughts did I invite today? Which ones need to be bounced out?
This is so true–you can determine the outcome of your day, good or bad, by your attitude. Well said, Charlotte!
Thank you!
I struggle to force new thoughts. A relaxed mind before sleep is a much better source.
In the Abraham material, they suggest to simply think about something else with appreciation. Gee, what a nice pen this is. Hey, my sheets are comfortable. First, it’s a distraction, and second, it helps you change gears from negative thoughts to neutral. IT’s also hard to jump from yuck to YAY all at once, but yuck to meh to hmmm to YAY is not so hard.
Hi Charlotte,
I really enjoyed the style in which you wrote this post. It was very easy to understand.
Indeed, I agree with you 100%. Thoughts that make us feel frustrated, helpless etc. are ones, which we have kept on entertaining. By entertaining new, more resourceful thoughts we learn to replace old, unhelpful ones.
A quote comes to mind: lie down with dogs, get up with fleas. It’s always good to take a new perspective, especially if there seem to be fleas–automatic negative thoughts (ants) as Dr. Daniel Amen calls them. Learning to spot these thoughts and consciously choosing to think something else is work, but worthwhile. Thanks for coming by.
I so agree. What our mind thinks is truth to us. I want my truth to be uplifting not negative.
The more I read and think about this topic, the more I see that all perception is illusion and interpretation. We might as well make it work for us. Thanks for dropping by.
This post really speaks to me.
I have had to do some reprogramming of my thoughts in recent years.
I have my little mantras…affirmations, as you say.
It’s so gratifying when after lots of work, you find one of the thoughts you have ingrained in yourself arising as if of its own accord!
Uttley
ps. thanks much for posting to my linky yesterday. I am definitely following you…
Thanks for dropping by.
I’m getting a lot of integration from the coaching sessions I have with my best friend. She’s in coaching school, and I’m her guinea pig. She is already very talented, and when we get to chatting after the session, I get the best ideas.
Most of us need to do some reprogramming, at least if we survived elementary school. How is your blog hop tour lining up?