Thoughts are intensely powerful!  Our thoughts have the power to lift us up or to drag us down; they can inspire us or crush our spirits.  Our minds are always running like a clock runs on the wall; always ticking.

I’ve heard it said that “no one can be harder on you than you“, I am going to have to agree.  As humans we can have the tendency to think through a filter of fear, uncertainty, self doubt, or negativity causing our passions to be squelched and our joy to be hindered.

But, do we have to live life thinking this way?  I would have to say an emphatic “NO!” It is simply time to intentionally re-adjust our thinking patterns.  Negative thinking can be habit forming but so can positive thinking.  Training your mind to focus on what is good, to dream of possibilities, to reaffirm your talents to yourself, to capture all the many joys that can arise in a day will completely take your thinking in a new direction.

Proverbs 3:21-22 says; “Guard clear thinking and common sense with your life; don’t lose sight of them. They’ll keep your soul alive and well, they’ll keep you fit and attractive.”

Author and painter Joni Eareckson Tada puts it into these words; ” No more imperfect thoughts. No more sad memories. No more ignorance. I have a redeemed body AND a redeemed mind! God grant me a foretaste of that perfect mind as you mirror your thoughts in me today.”

Our minds are powerful; God made them that way. It is our challenge to choose to direct our thinking towards hope, passion, joy and peace or to continue thinking through a negative filter.  This is one of the tasks no one can do for us.