#49 – Your thoughts are real, but are they true?

A reader asked, "How do you erase them, though?"

She was responding to my prompt, "What message do you need erasing?" (at the end of a post about what my father said).

The message I erased was that I couldn't be a writer because, in my father's words, "To be a writer you need to know a lot of things."

How did I do it?

Here's a step-by-step process to erase untrue messages in your brain, thoughts that will hold you back if you keep believing them.

Step 1: Catch the thought in the moment

This is will be difficult because thoughts are sneaky creatures. Especially those that have become as habitual in your brain as breathing or tying your shoelaces.

They'll hide from your consciousness, like an old dog that avoids being found after chewing your slippers and peeing on the rug beside the coffee table.

You will feel the consequences of having the thought: you'll feel sad or desperate, but you won't know what hit you.

With practice and stillness, you'll become more perceptive.

Step 2: Question the thought

Once you catch the thought, accept it. Say something like, "I'm thinking this thought. I know this thought is real because it's in my mind."

And then ask yourself, "But is it true?"

Accept the possibility that it may not be. As people say, "don't believe everything you find in your mind."

Step 3: Think a different thought

Your mind is yours. You're free to think whatever you want. You don't need to prove anything, or justify the reason why you're thinking something.

So, choose the thoughts you want to think.

Step 4: Act as though your new chosen thought is the truth

If the thought I choose is, "I can be a writer because I want to," I write. That is acting as though the thought is true.

Because it is.

What thought/message/belief are you choosing to erase from your brain?

Love,

Carolina