Changing Thoughts

So, on a more serious and less creative note...

In case you hadn't figured it out, I am religious. I believe in Christ. Because of my belief, I try to be like Him and do what I believe He would do. Being mortal, I'm not always successful. That doesn't mean that I give up, though. I'm a work in progress. :)

Christ has told us to think of Him always. If you've ever tried that, it's not the easiest thing to do. We've also been told to be engaged in a good cause. It's so easy to get busy and forget this. One of the areas that's most difficult for me to be engaged in is my thoughts. I can appear to be doing what I'm supposed to be doing, but my head is a million miles away! I wonder how much living I've missed out on because of this. Well, it's stopping now. I am changing my thoughts, one day at a time!

If you've ever tried changing something, you realize it's a give and take process. If you don't have something to replace what you're used to doing (e.g. smoking, thinking, watching tv), then you WILL go back to that habit. In the church I go to (and I think it's pretty common), we have a hymnal of some 336 hymns. I've set myself the goal to memorize ALL of them...LoL That should keep me busy! I've memorized four so far...And you know what? It has helped. I constantly have uplifting music running through my head. And if I start to slip, I immediately do a self-check on the current hymn I'm trying to memorize. It has helped a lot.

Another technique I'm using is to think of my family and what they might need. I go person by person and think of my observations of them that day and what I can do for them tomorrow to help them be happier. I usually fall asleep doing that. :)

Above all, I ask the Lord for help. I ask him to help me replace the bad thoughts with good ones and to help me despise the bad thoughts so that I won't have a desire to return to them.

It's been a good experience. I recommend you try it. :)