Joy in the Moment
Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life
By Joy Pape, FNP-C, CDCES
“The ancestor of every action is a thought.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
A few life-changing experiences have been the realizations that:
- A thought proceeds an action.
- I am not my thoughts.
- I can change my thoughts.
Just because I think I have a problem, doesn’t mean I have a problem.You can apply Emerson’s words to what we’ve learned over the years.
Just because your ancestors may have had certain illnesses or habits, doesn’t mean you have to have them. This is not forgetting genetics—but it may be that their lifestyle caused some of these problems. You were most likely taught these lifestyles—but by making some lifestyle changes you may very well be able to prevent these conditions.
You can change your thoughts—but first you need to realize you are not your thoughts. You don’t have to act on the first thought you have. For example, you may want a certain food that you know is not good for you. If you believe the thought that you “have to have it”—because you were taught you have to have it—you’ll eat it. If you realize it was just a teaching and you don’t “have to have it,” you’ve changed your thought and may choose something that is good for you instead.
You may think you have a problem because you think it’s a problem. Is it? Did you ever see it as an opportunity rather than a problem? Is it something you can learn from and, in the end, be better because of it?
Back to…You are not your thoughts. You don’t have to agree with and act on every thought in your mind. You can change your thoughts, change your mind and have some joy in the moments you do this.
