While we’re on the topic of the power of thoughts, why don’t we take a deeper look into this? I know that a lot of people think that placing emphasis on one’s mental power is nothing but drivel. Trust me – I used to lean towards that way of thinking in the past. On the one hand, I believe that we are what we think, to a certain degree at least. On the other hand, I also realize that there are certain things that are out of our control and sometimes, no matter how much we think about a certain outcome, it just doesn’t happen.

Then again, I have experienced for myself just how powerful thoughts can be. It is when I let my mind wander and think about whatever it wants that I find myself getting more and more stressed. I find myself spinning out of control when this happens. And, if I don’t do anything about controlling my mind and my thoughts, everything just snowballs.

The solution? It is very simple: train your mind. Just like the muscles in our bodies, the mind can easily turn to “mush” and be practically useless unless we exercise it.

One technique that I learned from my counselor is to do positive affirmation whenever I find myself stressing over something that I know I have no control over; something that I shouldn’t be thinking about because doing so will not solve anything.

What does she mean by positive affirmation? Think of a short poem, a Bible verse, a few sentences – whatever will make you feel that whatever it is that is bothering you will be taken care of one way or another. Choose lines that are most meaningful to you. Whenever your mind starts wandering, recite these lines in your mind over and over again. Just keep doing it for as long as it takes.

It sounds kooky – yes, it does; but believe me, it got me through the worst months of my life. Train your mind. You’ll find that mental stress isn’t all that unbeatable.

Originally posted on April 18, 2010 @ 3:56 pm