The Power of Thoughts

Our thoughts that we have matter! 

Thoughts are an interesting thing to me. They are things that are in our heads and have always been there. Some people's thoughts are more self-centered but others can tend to have a more outward focus with their thoughts. This is such a powerful thing. We can have thoughts running through our heads all the time. We can also have them expressed all the time if we choose to. So something that I learned about in my class this week was how our thoughts influence our lives and the lives of our family and people we encounter. 

The effect of thoughts on one's self: 

I can remember growing up how often I thought negatively about myself and others. I would say that high school was the peak low for my thought negativity. I was constantly comparing myself to others and never thought I was good enough. This concept of never measuring up was a combination of school grades, sports, religious efforts, and much more. I was not seeing my value in the unique characteristics that make me who I am. I think this is a common trend among high schoolers. I also found myself negatively judging others, which I admit I sometimes catch myself still doing. While I felt inadequate all the time, I was trying to compensate for that by comparing myself to others and convincing myself that I was better than them. This was so unhealthy. I didn't share my thoughts with others and that is a practice that I have had to try to force myself to do. So, in high school, my thoughts were so negative and distorted. They were not Truth! This is the key, make your thoughts the truth. This means that when I had an urge in high school to think, "no one likes me," I analyze that thought to decide if it is true. I can conclude right now that that was completely false. You can switch your thoughts to true statements and see how the difference affects your overall experience during the day. Instead of thinking no one likes me, I would need to say, I have amazing friends and would like to get to know more people so they can understand my personality better. This change from negative, false thoughts in our minds to positive, entirely true thoughts can change our lives. I totally believe this. I haven't fully been able to apply this concept consistently in my life but I have understood the effect that it can have on my mental health. I am happier when I realize the false reality of some of my thoughts and change them into truths. I encourage you all to try and change your thoughts to truths.

Self-thoughts and the effect they have on the Family:

One might think that because our thoughts are in our heads, they don't affect anyone around us. This is not true at all. The thoughts we have often are transferred into our words and actions. When we have consistent negative thoughts, we often have negative conversations, insights, and more selfish actions. When our thoughts are positive and entirely true, our actions and conversations tend to be more lighthearted and positive as well. So, the thoughts we have do affect those in our lives. We should especially understand the importance of our thoughts when raising children. As a parent, I should preface this and say that I am not a parent currently, we know the influence we have on children. Children watch their parents constantly even when the adults aren't aware that they are. If the parent has consistent negative thoughts that transfer into negative actions with family members and others around them, the child will pick up on those habits. What we say and think will affect our future or current children. We can see how important the thoughts that we allow to occupy our minds are and the effect they can have on our lives.