Time For That Board Meeting

A while back, I came across a poster on social media with the wordings, “if you see me talking to myself, please go your way. I’m self-employed and we are having staff meeting.”

I found this quite hilarious and couldn’t resist sharing it with others.

Growing up, seeing someone talking to themselves appeared strange and it was easy to conclude that there was something wrong.

As I’ve grown up, I have appreciated the benefit of having a chat with myself. I just make sure I do it in the right place and time so as not to appear strange to others. I am sure we all do it as our minds are constantly swirling with thoughts.

Experts estimate that the mind thinks between 60,000 to 80,000 thoughts a day. That’s an average of 2500 – 3,300 thoughts per hour. That’s incredible. Other experts estimate a smaller number of 12,000 to 50,000 thoughts per day.

Even if these numbers appear far-fetched, it is safe to assume that the human mind is never empty and void of thought.

It is said that 80% of thoughts are negative and 95% are repetitive.

Further studies have proved a link between the quality of our lives and the quality of our internal and external dialogues.

It also shows that our bodies respond to the ways we think, feel and act aka the mind-body-spirit connection.

With this backdrop, I can see the value of watching my thoughts and having a conversation with myself when my thoughts need to be arrested and brought back into alignment with how I want them to go.

Here are a couple of thoughts:

Watch your default setting

If so many thoughts have a tendency to be negative and repetitive, what is your default setting? Do you latch on to the negative or do you mindfully look for the positive thoughts and work with these?

I love a passage from the Bible that says, “Summing it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse.” (Philippians 4: 8)

Regardless of your belief, this is a default setting that is worth considering – latch on to the best, not the worst the beautiful and not the ugly.

Create templates for your internal dialogues

Pay attention to your thoughts and have a template for those dialogues that are necessary.

Rather than a thought that says you are not good enough, your template should remind you that you are fearfully and wonderfully made.

When thoughts of being a failure comes, interrupt that thought with a template that says, ‘I failed but I have learnt some lessons and I am better for it. I will try again taking my lessons on board.”

When your thoughts call into question your worth, think of how intricately your whole being works, remind yourself you are not an accident and you are loved beyond measure by your Creator.

I want to conclude this post with a quote.

“Here is my wish for you and every other child, woman, and man on the face of the earth: Spend one week saying only kind, caring things to yourself.

Say thank you at least ten times an hour, direct five toward yourself and five to the world at large. Compliment yourself (and others) each time an effort is made.

Notice all the wonderful qualities and characteristics about yourself and those around you. One week. You will never go back.” Cheri Huber

Thank you for reading my posts. Please share them with others so we can all grow together. Much love