Sunday, April 13, 2008

Stolen thoughts...

I was flipping through my May issue of Ladies Home Journal yesterday and came accross an article that made me stop reading and think. The following excerpt will be paraphrased for length issues:
  • Don't believe everything you think: We have on average 60,000 thoughts a day. And of those thoughts 95% are the same thoughts we had yesterday, and the day before, and the day before that. The bad part is for the average person, the majority of those habitual thoughts are negative. Having negative thoughts can stimulate the areas of the brain involved in depression and anxiety. For adaptive reasons, we have an inborn tendency to register negative thoughts,feelings and experiences more deeply than positive ones. We're hardwired for negativity: Example-If you get 10 compliments and one criticism, what do you remember? Next time, be skeptical of negative thoughts and learn not to let false alarms hijack your happiness.

Makes ya think doesn't it. It does me anyway. I'm so guilty of this. I think it's possible that the stuff I remember my Mom telling me is 98% negative. Possibly 99%.

Guess that's why I have trouble doing what I'm doing ...on some days. Other days I can rise above it and toss it aside. You know...go into the dark room in the grape and open that worn out box that i keep negative thoughts in......

I'm going to put this one in a different box this time. I think I'll keep it in the first room...right by the door.....it's for things I need to do daily. Of course I trip over stuff alot b/c I'm still trying to get organized and the rooms are a bit messy up there too....perhaps I'll do something new with this thought. Maybe I'll put it on a posterboard....and tack it to the door. I should see it better there.

It'll be a good reminder..

Ohhhhh............I just had another thought. I'm going to put 'wall words' up...all over the grape.....I'll redecorate AND get organized at the same time.

Yea..........I'm a little bit left of center today. But it's working for me. ;)

3 comments:

Dianne said...

Those damn false alarms! they're always going off. I'm learning, slowly of course, to shut them down.

Great post. It affirms the positive.

Allison Horner said...

Yes, be & think positive!

And don't buy into negative articles in women's magazines!!! Those kind of articles irritate me so. I am such a science dork (as is Pups) and we want to know what the scientific basis is behind them saying that the majority of our thoughts are negative. I think it depends on an individual's personality or what's going on at that time in their life. How can they generalize like that?

I think the majority of my thoughts are neutral...what I doing today, etc, some good and sometimes negative. But for me it depends on the day or what's going on in my life at the moment.

I DO agree that sometimes the negative thoughts stick out so much it feels like they consume the day when they occur.

The mind is a powerful thing. Think positively, talk positively, write down things we're thankful for....and smile a lot....it helps... From one who has suffered from depression in my past, I know. :)

One of my favorite sayings when days are rough, "This, too, shall pass."

I am glad you posted this & are affirming a postive thought.

Another great quote, "I think, therefore I am." :)

tt said...

dianne: Yep..positive affirmations s/b upper most in our minds..yes? I too am learning...My sisterlittle says if they had LD classes when we were young i would have been in one..:)sh ha...so I guess I do learn a bit slower than some. But at least I know I'll be there one day.

Alli: I'll post a bit more about the article. Perhaps I didn't include enough information for everyone to get the whole picture.