While thinking about what to write, I realized that what I write is helping me.  Every valuable tidbit that I share to help improve our self-worth and self-esteem is meant to be shared. I want us all to be happy people. Regardless of our current state in life, we can all think better thoughts.

Everything We Do Eventually Becomes a Habit

From the time we’re able to do things on our own, we start to develop habits. We were told things growing up, and most of the time, those things became our habits. And habits can include our thoughts.

Default Settings

What we’ve learned as children has become our default program. Just like when you get a new television or computer, the settings are in a default position that the programmers or designers deemed was an optimal starting point for the consumer. They made the default settings perfectly usable. You don’t have to change them in order to use the item.

The same is true for our thoughts. We don’t have to change them. Our parents, grandparents, and like-minded peers, as well as others, got along through life without changing their default settings. What kind of life they had, I do not know. All I know is that my default program was not good for me and my happiness. If we pay attention to our thoughts, we’ll know what our default settings are.

There are Thought Habits

I catch myself now, where I couldn’t before, when I think of something negative. I immediately challenge it and make the necessary changes. I want my default thoughts to be positive and good for me, not tainted like spoiled meat.

Negative thoughts are habits learned from our upbringing. We develop our thought habits based on our experiences.  Growing up, I didn’t hear a lot of “you can do it” or “go after your dreams no matter what.” That’s because my heritage didn’t have that mindset. Their thought habits got ingrained with a tunnel vision belief that there is only one way to earn money. I have to chuckle now at that notion because of all the attention they paid to entertainers, authors, musicians, and other artists who created something out of nothing and earned very good livings at it.

Judging others and believing we already know everything are learned negative thought habits that keep us small.

The Habits That Change Us

First, we need to be aware of our thoughts.

Second, challenge thoughts that don’t make you feel good. Those are the anxious ones, plagued by the doom and gloom of the past and worrying thoughts about the future.

Third, replace the negative thought with a positive one. It’s simple. If you think you’re fat, look at yourself in the mirror and find one thing you love about yourself. Focus on that. You’ll get into the frequency of positive thinking, and before you know it, you’ll have a desire to take better care of your body, appreciate its other aspects, and your focus will shift toward being healthier. The thoughts will change from ‘I am fat’ to ‘I am beautiful just the way I am, and doing the best that I can to get healthier.’  Weight on a body can be a result of weight on the mind. Lighten your thoughts to positive ones, and your body will respond, too.

 

 

Thank you for reading this. I hope this offered you something to think about and helps you be happier. Please share a comment. I’d love to read your thoughts.

To small habits,

Francesca

 

Created by a human for humans. 

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