Where Are Your Thoughts Taking You?

As a passionate collector of quotes, I often use them in my writing.

As a matter of fact, when I sit down to write an article or blog post, I can be found doing so in the company of  Mark Twain, Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King Jr, Confucius, Maya Angelou, John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, Eleanor Roosevelt,  Dale Carnegie, etc.

I most definitely keep some remarkable company!

I’m also very passionate about music.  All music, actually, but I’ve always been especially drawn to the espresso of music:  Rock Music.  So accompanying my writing today is none other than one of the greatest bands of all time, Creed.

I want to highlight a line from a song I listen to, probably, 12 times a week, “What If.”  The line’s simple in it’s approach, yet profound in its wisdom:

….what consumes your thoughts controls your life.

Funny, isn’t it, that we Self Help writers fill up blogs, magazines, and books with information that a rock band (okay, well, one of God’s gifts to rock bands) nails with a line.  What consumes your thoughts controls your life.

Ask yourself the following question, “What do I think about 75 percent of the time?”

• Do you worry and fret about what tomorrow will bring?
• Do you relive and regret what happened yesterday?
• Do you stew and simmer in your own juices, because so and so doesn’t treat you better or because life just isn’t fair?
• Are your thoughts consumed by feelings of  not being good enough?
• Do your thoughts center around how you want more money,  a bigger house, a newer car…
• Do you spend the majority of your day beating yourself up – saying you are overweight, old, underweight, clutzy, cursed, etc?  (If so, knock that the heck off!!!)

Here’s a little exercise I’ve used in my personal life countless, countless times. Think of someone in your life who means the world to you.  Imagine that you could create and schedule their thoughts.  What sort of things would you want them to think about during the course of a day?

I just saw one of my daughters pass by (looking very pretty in emerald green, by the way), so I’m going to use her as a guinea pig.  Ha, she just smiled at me and rubbed Alexa’s head, she has no idea I’m putting her into a lab cage!

What would I want little Miss Pretty in Green to think about 75 percent of the time?

• I’d want her to open her mind and consume as much knowledge about the world she lives in as possible.  I’d want her to learn about the different people, cultures, animals, and places of the world.  I’d want her to never, ever become content with her knowledge.
• I’d be certain to give her great doses of self confidence and belief in herself.  I’m make her thoughts focus on her strengths, with only a quick glance at her weaknesses – just long enough to acknowledge them and determine what sort of workout they’ll require to become strengths.
• I’d want her to get a clear, definite picture of what she wants from life and to realize what it will take to make it happen.  I want a great deal of her thoughts to revolve around what it will take (on a daily basis) to make her dream a reality.
• I’d want her to have  a very large percentage of thoughts geared toward what she can do to make the world a better, brighter, and safer place for its inhabitants.  Not just on the grand scale, but on the small scale as well.  Often we become so busy looking at what needs to be done to make the world a better place that we fail to see what needs to be done to make the world a better place for our loved  ones.  I’d want her to be ever mindful of letting everyone she loves know that she loves them and that she would do anything for them.

What sort of thoughts would you want to occupy a loved one’s head?

Now here’s the important part:  I’m not asking you what thoughts you want to fill their head with for their sake.  You can’t possibly try to control someone else’s thoughts – we all know that.  It’s an exercise for you to discover the things you should be thinking about. Most of us (especially parents) can access the greatest advice in the world if we just ask ourselves what we would tell our sons and daughters!

Think back over the thoughts you’d most want your loved one to entertain.  Are they the sort of thoughts that fill your own head during the course of a day?  Would you want your loved one to have negative, crippling, angry, negative thoughts?  Would you want them to, seemingly, just look for things to be unhappy or unsettled about or would you want them to look for the good in people and situations?

Now, why exactly, are mere thoughts so very, very important?  Well….

….what consumes your thoughts controls your life. Your thoughts are in the driver’s seat.  And where are they leading you?  Your destiny, also known as the rest of your life.

Make each thought count for something! – Joi

Click the link below for the rest of the great lyrics to Creed’s What If.

“What If”

by Creed

I can’t find the rhyme in all my reason
Lost sense of time and all seasons
Feel I’ve been beaten down
By the words of men who have no grounds
Can’t sleep beneath the trees of wisdom
When your ax has cut the roots that feed them
Forked tongues in bitter mouths
Can drive a man to bleed from inside out

What if you did?
What if you lied?
What if I avenge?
What if eye for an eye?

I’ve seen the wicked fruit of your vine
Destroy the man who lacks a strong mind
Human pride sings a vengeful song
Inspired by the times you’ve been walked on
My stage is shared by many millions
Who lift their hands up high because they feel this
We are one We are strong
The more you hold us down the more we press on

What if you did?
What if you lied?
What if I avenge?
What if eye for an eye?

I know I can’t hold the hate inside my mind
‘Cause what consumes your thoughts controls your life
So I’ll just ask a question
A lonely simple question
I’ll just ask one question
What if? What if?
What if? What if?
What If I?

What if? What if?
What if? What if?
What If I?

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