CHALLENGING Faith
Transform your thoughts for a better life By Joel Lund
Being Priceless
How do you measure your worth? The chances are, you don’t value yourself all that highly. How could I say that? Evidence. Lots and lots of evidence. No, no, I am not stalking you. Nothing like that. The evidence isn’t specifically about you. But there’s still loads of evidence that you don’t value yourself highly. And, no, I’m not referring to your self-esteem, although that is part of where this is going.
Let’s Start at the Start
Here’s one definition of “self-concept”: “A self-concept is a collection of beliefs about one’s own nature, unique qualities, and typical behavior. Your self-concept is your mental picture of yourself. It is a collection of self-perceptions. For example, a self-concept might include such beliefs as ‘I am easygoing’ or ‘I am pretty’ or ‘I am hardworking.’” (Weiten, Dunn, & Hammer, 2012) Most of us would probably use terms like those above when we describe ourselves to others. In my case, I lean slightly to “introverted.” I am a bit too “hardworking.” And I am “relentlessly creative.” However, I, like you, also do just what you do. And you, like me, do it way more than you would believe: You think negatively. Almost all the time, in fact. I wish I was kidding. Truly. Here’s some evidence for you: • Your prefrontal cortex (also known as your thinking brain) doesn’t mature until you are around 25 years old. Until then, fears, negative beliefs and self-imposed limitations are pretty much programmed into you without your involvement. • So, many of your behaviors were learned by the time you were 12. Think about that for a moment. Did you have mostly positive inputs in your childhood? • Your mind processes, on average, between 50,000-70,000 thoughts per day. Yep, that means you churn through 35-48 thoughts per minute. • Research shows that roughly 95 percent of your thoughts are just like the ones you had the day before and the day before that. They are habitual thoughts.
• For most people, 80 percent of those habitual thoughts are negative. So, if we assume that your normal thought flow is, say, 60,000 per day, then 48,000 of them are negative. Per day. Per. Day. • Um, yeah. This is sobering stuff. • But it doesn’t have to stay that way.
Creating a New Start
At the time of this writing, we just celebrated Easter. It is the most important day in the church year for good reason. It has everything to do with newness. With becoming alive. Easter is about transformation, from death to life. On Easter, believers all over the world declare that we are made new through the resurrection of Jesus. Paul encourages us to “put off your old self ” and “be made new in the attitude of your minds” as a response to this Good News (Eph. 4:22-23). Well, what does this include? It means that we can experience transformation — real change— in our lives, starting right now. We can crimp those negative spin-cycles we put ourselves through. And, as believers, we really need to actively, gleefully and passionately take charge of what our minds are marinating in.
Four Steps to a Better Outlook
There are four simple things you can start doing today to assist the Spirit in redeeming your mind: 1. Recognize that much of your view of the world is framed in stories. And most of those are negative because you were unable to filter them because you were young. Your thinking brain hadn’t come online yet. If someone said something critical of you, like, “You’re stupid!” or similarly hurtful comments, you simply accepted them as true. So, many of your stories about yourself are flat wrong. 2. Choose to activate your brain to your advantage. You can! Nothing is locked down. It is possible to create new, positive pathways. 3. Lean in to positive thoughts, ideas and images. There is no better place to go than Scripture and great devotionals, first thing in the morning. 4. Do things that promote happiness in you and those around you. Action is tremendously important for changing your behavior patterns and habits.
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