Place: home
Poison: toothpaste
Favourite things: bed early!
Thinking about our minds.
Specifically guarding them.
Where do these foreign, unhelpful, negative thoughts come from?
I was thinking this morning about the difference between fear and worry?
Fear is;
An unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat.
Worry is;
Give way to anxiety or unease; allow one’s mind to dwell on difficulty or troubles.
Fear being an overwhelming feeling and worry is a state of mind.
They are both similar but attack us in different ways.
When we can define and articulate whether we have fears or worries, anxieties or stress, I believe we can start to build up defenses that guard the mind.
I was asking myself this morning where my mind was weak in this whole journey we are going on.
Sometimes I have thoughts or emotions flying at me. They have no reasoning or context. These I believe are coming from a negative source.
Then other times I have anxieties and fears that rise up internally from actual events or circumstances.
Whether our mind is bombarded by outside negative influences or overwhelmed by internal emotions I believe combatting them with a similar strategy is imperative,
Guarding our minds is taking captive any thoughts that do not honor or bring life.
Taking any thoughts and praying, meditating and flooding them with truth.
I went through a season in my life where I battled an eating disorder. It went on for years. Being involved professionally in the theatre industry I was overwhelmed with thoughts of doubt about my body shape and how I looked. My mind was overwhelmed by negativity.
I combatted this serious disorder with cleansing my mind. If I started to think about myself in ways that were unhelpful I would stop myself. I would say out loud ‘no, that is not the truth’ or ‘stop, you are beautiful’. Speaking truth has power, speaking scripture shifts atmospheres, changing my thoughts, guarding my mind, changed the circumstance.
Over the years, mostly through guarding my mind I was able to stop the destructive eating patterns. I still have times today when those thoughts bombard me. Often it’s at times of immense change or stress.
To bring back those amazing strategies of changing my thoughts and speaking truth. Bringing change to the rabbit holes I find my mind had created.
Write down some of the ways you think fear or worry is attacking you. Is it internal? Is it external?
Write down a couple of sentences or scriptures you can speak out loud to Change the course of your thought process.
Popular culture tells us to clear and empty our mind. Which I think is impossible. Have you ever tried to empty your mind? You end up thinking about the fact your not supposed to be thinking and then you think about something anyway.
God has given us practical advice about this…however thats tomorrows topic.
Signing off, fear warriors…
I am starting to feel a little better about this topic, how about you?
A
