What thoughts are rolling around your head?
When last did you actually stop to see what you were thinking and how often you think?
The average person apparently has between 12,000 and 60,000 thoughts per day. However, estimates vary depending on the source and method used to measure thoughts. The research which states that the average person who has approximately 60,000 thoughts per day, has some concerning factors. They (yes, the proverbial ‘they’, the researchers) say what is truly concerning is that 75% of these thoughts are negative, and 95% of them are repetitive (yes again, thinking on autopilot). It has been found that many of our negative thoughts are driven by the flight or fight part of our brain. And to further complicate matters, here is another research finding: according to the Laboratory of Neuro Imaging at the University of Southern California, the average brain generates 48.6 thoughts per minute—amounting to about 70,000 thoughts per day. However, no matter what the research has found, we all know that we do think a lot each and every day, and most of us, without processing what these thoughts are. A cause for concern? 100% so!
But why is it so concerning? Well, to start with, our thoughts create our habits, they fashion the world we see around us (hostile or friendly), and this in turn can have an adverse effect on our mental, emotional and physical health. I personally have not found this to have an adverse effect on my spiritual, but instead, quite to the contrary. When I feel a sense of overwhelm, and then I realize that it all comes down to the way I think of myself, others and the world around me, I find solace in my spiritual practices, where I can go to a place of rest, calm, trust, peace and truth.
So, I ask you again: what thoughts are rolling around in your head right now? For example, are you thinking – what does she know? What makes her the authority to speak of such things? Honestly. Nothing, other than my own raw experiential lessons and hardships I have gone through – and gratefully (and gracefully), have come out the other side all the more wiser and calmer.
I want to highlight some of my thoughts, as I know that if I am thinking these thoughts, then many others are. Just like my daughter recently said when being interviewed for a podcast – we all (in the world) have more similarities than differences. So here are some of them:
- What do I have to do today?
- How am I going to get it all done?
- How am I going to attract an audience / a wider audience?
- Why are my neighbors’ dogs barking so loudly?
- When will I find time to go shopping?
- What will I have for dinner tonight?
- When will this pain in my neck go away?
- How can I create more money for my retirement?
- How can people be so ugly to one another …..
- …… and on and on it goes – relentlessly, without ceasing
And let me tell you something, negative thinking is EXHAUSTING! What I have found to be true is that my thoughts are normally projected outwards negatively towards others, the noise (because I live in a normally quiet and peaceful place, the noise is amplified, and because I work from home, it does trigger me). Looking back on my thoughts, they are negative, judgmental, critical of others and the environment, and on and on it goes. Can you see that I did not think one good thing? I am not saying I don’t think good things. Of course I do, but not as frequently as I do on negative thinking.
So, let’s try an experiment.
Let’s try for one day to catch our thoughts as they come up and arise in our consciousness. Then, without judgment, look at the thought and ask yourself this, is this a negative or a positive thought, and how does it make me feel – contracted or expanded. Do this throughout the day, because as you become more and more aware of just how habitual this pattern/habit is in your life, you will see the importance of starting to learn to replace these thoughts with constructive, uplifting and positive thoughts. Dogs bark. That is what they do. And they are obviously barking for a reason. What if I turn this into – I am glad my neighbors’ have dogs. They are a great warning system for me. How does that feel for me. To be honest, in the beginning I might feel that I am lying to myself, but eventually I start to see the truth in that, and I definitely start to feel better. So, I am hoping you can start making small changes today too. And why? Because your life will become that much easier, happier, lighter, more joyful and carefree.