Good Things Start with a Single Thought
Have you ever wondered how many thoughts you have in a single day? I have. According to healthybrains.org, we have approximately 70,000 thoughts every day. Wow! That number truly blew me away. It made me stop and wonder – how many of those thoughts are positive? How many are negative? And most importantly, how can good things begin with just a single thought?
Start each day with a positive thought and a grateful heart… Roy T. Bennett
According to peak-dynamtics.net, 45000 of those 70000 thoughts are negative. That’s a lot! It’s no wonder the world is so full of unhappy people. Or rather, I should correct that. The world is not full of unhappy people – maybe it is the filter we are looking through that tends to portray others as unhappy or negative. This filter could then, in retrospect, have an impact on those 45000 negative thoughts.
This summer, I read an amazing devotional by Joyce Meyer called What About Me? I just love Joyce Meyer — she’s so real and down to earth. She has had her own struggles growing up and isn’t afraid to let others know that she is still a work in progress. Even at 80 years old, she admits to having moments of weakness and continues to work on bettering herself.
In this devotional, she talked about how the mind is a powerful tool that can help us break free from selfishness and fully enjoy the blessings of an outward-focused life. Our level of joy and happiness is closely connected to our thoughts. If we begin to foster beautiful and positive thoughts, our lives will naturally become happier.
On the other hand, if we dwell on negative or self-centered thoughts, we can end up like a wind-up toy — all tight with worry or selfishness, repeating, “What about me? What about me?” — until we wind ourselves back up again, losing focus on what really matters. (I must admit I laughed out loud at Joyce’s analogy of this).
It’s easy to get trapped into focusing on ourselves rather than others. I know I’ve fallen into that trap more than once. But recognizing it for what it is — a trap — is the first step toward escaping it. And while it may not always be easy, it is certainly possible.
Good things begin with a single thought.
Breaking the pattern of negativity involves creating more positivity in your life:
- Start with more positive self-talk – the way we talk to ourselves can have a huge impact on our thoughts and feelings.
- Challenge – or fight off – the negative thoughts. Often, our negative thoughts are not real, but only based on perceptions, assumptions, or ‘what-if’ moments.
- Take a review of your daily life. Is there a toxic situation or friends in your life?
- Pray – read daily devotionals (like What About Me by Joyce Meyer).
- Start a gratitude journal or write down what you are grateful for daily – click HERE to read more.
- Focus on the solution, not the problem.
- Exercise – a 30 min walk a day can boost those happy receptors in your body.
- Start a new hobby – this can break any recurring old habits or patterns in your life. It’s almost puzzle time for me – which I thoroughly enjoy during the winter months.
- When you think of others – don’t focus on their flaws, think about their strengths.
- Be humble and give grace.
Reviewing these 10 steps and ideas on speaking with positivity rather than negativity has been a wonderful refresher for me. I, too, can get caught in a filtered focus of negativity at times. Sometimes I notice it myself and can quickly shift my perspective, and other times a gentle reminder is necessary. We all have moments of weakness or imperfection — perfection is only a myth. To take a title (or a quote) from my husband… we are all Imperfect Creations – scared, frazzled, and maybe even broken, but each of us glowing in beauty.
As you go about your day today, remember that good things begin with a single thought. Start your morning with a smile, tell someone special, “I love you,” and jot down a few things you’re grateful for. Slowly, you may begin to notice that some of those 45,000 negative thoughts we have each day can be replaced by positive ones.
One step at a time
One thought at a time
One spoken word at a time
Love each other with genuine affection and take delight in honouring each other… Romans 12:10
