It’s Monday. I’m facing it down and showing up. I’m also choosing to find motivation from my meditations. In my mind this is where the rubber meets the road, where my feet walk out what my heart is leaning toward. My attitude and action are under my control. For a recovering Control Freak that is an important awareness. I do have control over some things!!
Our attitudes are our choices.
Photo by Kyle Glenn on Unsplash
We can choose how we respond to any given situation. We have control of our response. We also have control of our thoughts. You may struggle with “monkey mind” like I do as an Enneagram 7 but even our thoughts can be captured and wrangled into submission. In coaching we talk a lot about mindset. It’s not touchy-feely, it’s neurobiology-a field of science that studies how our brain works, learns, how our feelings impact brain function, and so much more!
You don’t have to stay stuck in a rut in your thought pattern. You have the power to choose.
Let’s use a fairly common internal dialogue as an example: You make a mistake with someone’s name. In your thoughts you tell yourself a story about your memory. It’s not a nice way to talk to anyone, but you call yourself a name and pair it with how your memory works. You have just created a neuropathway about your ability to remember names.
Guess what? Your brain looks for connections to string thoughts together in order for the brain to work more efficiently. The pathway gets strengthened every time you tell yourself that story. This is how your thoughts get formed and you get in a rut of stinking thinking.
How can you change that pattern?
Step 1: Pay Attention. Listen to the way you think about a circumstance.
Step 2: Stop it!
Photo by Luke van Zyl on Unsplash
The moment you recognize you’ve had a repeat thought that you want to change, you stop, acknowledge the negative thought as the “old way” of thinking.
Step 3: Immediately tell yourself the new Truth you want to replace the old thought with. It’s helpful to actually say it aloud if your circumstances allow.
Ancient wisdom tells us much about our thoughts. We can be transformed by the renewing of our minds. We can let our minds dwell or camp on Truth not on lies.
I’ve been sharing my meditations on Matthew 11:28-30 on Wednesdays this month. You can read the past ones here and here. There is ongoing benefit to meditation with your brain function too, but I won’t overload you with neuroscience! Just know that there are a multitude of benefits for meditating on God’s Word, one of them being transformation.
As a coach, I’m all about transformation. I’m pretty sure that’s aligned with God’s heart for us since we’re called to grow in Christ-likeness. Learning how to let go of thoughts and habits that keep us from being all we can be, learning to lean in with Jesus is worthy life work.
Let’s make meditation transfer to action. If you have questions about what the process of coaching with me is like, let me know. I’m happy to address your questions here or any of the other places you can find me: online or on the phone!
Learn a new Way. Take a step forward. Reach out for help & accountability.
I agree. Meditation is most helpful with it moves us to action. I always find good wisdom here, Lisa. Thanks.
I say Thanks be to God for any wisdom you find here, Debby. So good to hear He’s using my words to encourage & bless.