ONE single thing I learned has created the most change in my life and given me more of a sense of control in my life than anything else.
My life is created by my THOUGHTS.
I’m the analytical type so it just sounded like some kind of woo woo BS when I first heard my life is created by my thoughts.
It didn’t make sense until I understood the facts of what was happening in my brain and body
Here’s how it works.
Every time we have a feeling, a thought precedes that feeling, but we aren’t always aware of the thought.
When we learn something, it creates a weak neural pathway.
If we think about what we learned over and over and attach emotion to it then it becomes a hard-wired subconscious program.
That makes our brains super-efficient and prone to operating on autopilot.
Our brain and body are in constant communication to keep the thoughts and feelings in balance.
We think the thought, our brain releases a chemical, and our body feels the feeling.
Those thoughts and feelings create a state of being.
Since our brains are so efficient and run on auto pilot, we aren’t always aware of the thought, we just think the feeling showed up because of something happening outside of us.
Thinking something outside of us controls how we feel is a powerless position to be in because we have to rely on circumstances aligning just right for our happiness.
Knowing you can change how you feel by changing your thoughts puts YOU in control of how you feel.
Our body doesn’t know the difference from a feeling created by a thought about a real experience in our life and a thought that is something we made up that created an emotion.
So, when we go around thinking about all the worst things that can happen each day, our body is experiencing emotions created by those thoughts as if they really happened.
If we keep doing this, our body becomes familiar with those emotions and works to influence the mind to create the experience so it can feel the familiar emotion.
Stop and think about that.
Think about all the things you think about on a regular basis.
All your fears and worries about your teen that FEEL SO REAL.
It feels so real because you are creating that state of being with your thoughts and as I said earlier your body doesn’t know the difference.
Now think about your teen and their substance use and all the hard-wired neural pathways they have created.
They are operating under the same autopilot program you are; their program is just creating the result of substance use in their life.
What result are you creating in your life with your autopilot program?
Here is the good news: YOU CAN CHANGE IT!
It starts with awareness.
The next time you feel anxious, or sad, or scared try to remember what you were thinking about just before you noticed the feeling.
Does that thought serve you or your teen?
Is it going to help your situation?
Do you want to keep thinking it?
If the answer is no, choose a new thought.
Direct your mind to think it.
Be patient.
Learning to direct your thoughts is like starting a new diet.
When you change how you eat, you are deciding over and over every day to commit to a new way of eating.
The new way of eating requires you to eat intentionally until you create a new habit.
It’s the same concept with changing your thoughts.
Keep committing to creating thoughts that create the life you want.