Shopping for my Thoughts: How I Shift My Mind from Negative to Positive
November 2, 2021
Shopping for my thoughts: How I shift my mind from negative to positive.
My brain is wired to go down a rabbit hole once I begin thinking about one problem. What if this happens? Did she/he think that I was stupid? Are they going to like me? What if I get into a car accident? If I don’t remember to choose my thoughts, I worry all day every day.
I’ve learned that this is pretty normal but it is also within my power to retrain my thoughts. I am now intentionally shopping for my thoughts and I’m careful of what I decide to put in my shopping cart. With 86,400 seconds in a day and an average of 30,000-60,000 thoughts per day, I want to make sure I’m thinking positive thoughts most of the time!
I used to think all of my thoughts were true and somewhere along my journey, I started questioning myself. Now, I watch everything I see, hear and think like a hawk.
Because we all filter life through our experiences, oftentimes the events happening now reflect my past experiences. My story of an experience looks much different than how others may perceive it.
The movie or the book, The Secret, explains how our thoughts create our reality. You may understand the concept that the more we complain about and admire the problem, the more of these problems show up in our life. If we focus on gratitude, then more good things magically appear also! That’s why it is important to go shopping for our thoughts! Here is how I do this.
We all have this voice inside us that could win an Olympic medal for negative self-talk. Most of us don’t discuss this. We joke and say, “You have no idea how much negativity is in my head!” I’ve worked really hard at retraining my brain to control these old thought patterns.
I’ve decided to sort my thoughts and pretend like I’m shopping for clothes, except now I’m shopping for my thoughts. Some colors and styles I like and some I downright wouldn’t spend a dime on!
When I have a thought, I ask these questions:
Where did this thought come from? Was it related to a past experience?
Do I need to believe this thought?
How could I flip the thought, like turning on a light switch?
If I was talking to a friend, what would I say to them about the thought?
And the last, and most crucial question, Do I want more of these thoughts?
If the answer to the last question is yes, then I am good. If the answer is no, then it’s time to flip the switch and change my thoughts.
Most of our negative thoughts come from a place to try to keep us safe. This is useful when we are facing real danger. When driving a car, we need to listen to these thoughts so that we don’t crash. If there is no real danger happening at the moment, then it’s important to reframe my thinking.
Here is what I think to myself:
“Why, thank you for trying to keep me safe! I so appreciate your quest to take good care of me! I don’t need these ideas right now. I’m really not interested in purchasing your merchandise right now. You see, there is another opportunity for me and I am grateful for all of the good things in my life.”