Passing Thoughts…How They Should Be

Words of Wisdom: Weekly wit from the man who's done (almost) everything wrong!

By: Sean Weeks

How many of us are prisoners of our thoughts? Raise your hands if you feel like you are at their mercy. Okay, put your hands down. There’s a lot of us that feel that way. Of course, there are. Thoughts are very powerful things. They are the essence of our consciousness, part of the intangible, unexplainable quality of being alive and sentient. They can form our reality and can master us. They can have a hold on us more powerful than any other thing. They can help us to transcend the physical world of pain, suffering, obstacles, and failures. They can also drag us down, put up barriers, and trap us in negativity and self-doubt.

There are several ways to look at our thoughts. We can see them as armored soldiers, marching through our heads destroying and controlling. They run things here and we are at their mercy. Or, we can see them as ethereal butterflies, flitting through our minds. There, but not there, they enter our heads, where we are aware of them, but let them pass through with no real effect. We can also see them as powerful allies, giving us advice, showing us possibilities, trying to help us navigate the complex world of our lives and relationships. We cannot exist without our thoughts, so how do we tread the fine line of using the good ones, not being dominated by the toxic ones, and allowing the irrelevant ones to pass through?

We need to go back to our old standbys of self-reflection, self-honesty, and rational and objective discernment.

When we are practicing intentional self-reflection, we can readily identify the negative thoughts that try to take us down and take us over. When we take an inventory regularly, we will have a good idea of who we are, what we want, and where we are going. We will know when our thoughts are of a self-sabotaging nature or are coming from our insecurities. If we are practicing good self-honesty, this will also help to keep thoughts in their place. We will be able to take self-criticism without giving in to negativity. When we are being rational and objective about analyzing our thoughts, we will put ourselves in the place of being masters of them instead of them running us. We will not have to give in to fears they may cause. Instead, we can use them as one of our most valuable tools. We can use our thoughts to show us positive and negative outcomes to our actions, in order to make the right decisions. We will be able to accept or reject the thoughts on the basis of what will be good and healthy for us.

Finally, we will be able to accept and understand that, like feelings, our thoughts are temporary. They will come and go, and while they are real, they are not always rational. They can seem that way, and this is how people can become trapped by them. What we need to realize is that we do not have to give in to them. We can take the healthy ones and allow the unhealthy ones to pass through us, like butterflies. They do not have to be allowed to take root and grow in our heads. We are the masters of our thoughts, not vice-versa. We control them, they do not control us. We can use them to help us analyze and reach healthy conclusions, we do not have to allow them to manipulate us into unhealthy behaviors.

Our heads can be crazy places. All of us, without exception, have crazy thoughts, irrelevant thoughts, weird thoughts, and negative thoughts. When we are practicing intentional self-honesty, reflecting and taking inventory, and allowing objectivity and rationality to be the guiding principles in our minds, we can take control back from our thoughts. We can use them to help us cope, succeed, process, and understand. We can use them to make healthy choices that push us closer to achieving our goals. Do not let your thoughts imprison you. Shut the bad ones out, let the good ones take root, and let all the rest just pass through. Use your thoughts, and use them Confidently!

Want more? Listen to the episode “What Was I Thinking: Are These Thoughts Normal?”