What Are You Saying To Yourself? Part III

Welcome to the third and final installment in the What Are You Saying To Yourself? series. In the first part of this series, I talked about that negative internal dialogue that so many of us seem to have, and how to get a handle on how we talk to ourselves. In the second part of my series I talked about some common sources of this negative thinking.  And as promised, in this one, I'm going to tell you why it is so important to silence as much of this internal strife as we can.

Learning some of these lessons, and practicing some of these techniques I've talked about has not been easy. But the benefits have made all that effort worth it. And I'll tell you why. Because I can sit now quietly and think.  I can think clearly. I can think without all that clutter that used to make it impossible to reflect--instead I was always reacting. And by reacting, I caused more problems, which lead to more stress, and more mental clutter, and more anxiety.  I finally broke that cycle.

I'm able to see the difference between things I can fix, and things I can not, and I don't waste my valuable mental bandwidth on things that our clearly outside my control. I can let things go now. I can consciously decide I'm not going to be mad about something, and actually not be mad about it. And I can accept the fact that I can't change other people.  And I can turn off the television and not absorb so much of the ugliness, and bias, and anger that seems to permeate our culture these days, and focus on where I can do good.

God speaks to us.  He speaks to us through his word. Sometimes he speaks to us more directly. There's been some times in my life when I think God has stepped in and given me a push.  Opened a door. Introduced me to somebody I needed to know when I needed to know them. It's not thunderous booming voice commanding me. It's not accompanied by marching bands and fireworks. It's not a flashing billboard. It's a clear perfect thought that comes during a quiet moment. Or sometimes it's an impossibly well-timed coincidence (I no longer believe in coincidences by the way).

I practice diligently keeping all those worries, and all those other concerns at bay so that I can focus on God's word, and so that I can catch and hold those perfect thoughts when they come, and so I can see God at work in my life pushing me towards the path and the plan He has for me.

The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.

~Proverbs 16:9

~TEC