Change Your Life with Your Thoughts

OK, I'm stealing another article from someone else....but this is too good not to post.   I said in my last post that is we could just get our thinking about ourselves in the right place it would change our life, this post from Joyce Meyer is along the same lines.  It's understanding the huge connection between what we think and say - and what our life looks like.  

Change is hard but this kind of change is so worth it because it is the difference between being happy in whatever situation or circumstances you are in or being unhappy and constantly looking for someone or something to make you happy and fulfilled, which is so sad because that "something or someone"  will never be found -  happiness comes from within ourselves and it is our choice with God's help to make that happen.

by Joyce Meyer

The longer I live the more I realize how strong a connection exists between our thoughts and our words. I honestly believe that this connection is one of the most important things we can learn in our lives.
So many people's problems are rooted in their way of thinking, which can actually produce a lot of the problems they experience.

How does that happen?
Well, a negative mind produces negative words and, consequently, a negative life. Our words can actually become traps that cause us to continue our cycle of negative thoughts and actions.
Yes, we're all tempted to speak negatively, but we don't have to give in to that temptation.
To turn our words around, we need to start thinking about what we're thinking about, and then make some real changes.
Let me show you how.

The Trap of Negative Thinking

Because I allowed many years of negative thinking and speaking in my life, I became an extremely negative, sour person. My philosophy became "if you don't expect anything good to happen, then you won't be disappointed when it doesn't."
Have you ever felt that way?
Because I had encountered so many disappointments, I was afraid to believe that anything good could happen to me. I had developed a terribly negative outlook on everything.
If I had continued to believe those lies about never getting over my past, I never would've gotten over my past.

New Thoughts, New Possibilities

With God's help I am continually reminded that my past doesn't have to control my future. I don't need God's help in my life to give up; I need His help to keep going!
I now know how important it is for me to understand the fact that my life would not have gotten straightened out until my mouth did…
And since the two are linked, my mouth wasn't going to get straightened out until my mind did.
Changing your words and thoughts is definitely not an easy thing to do, but with God's help all things are possible.

Be Patient with Yourself

We have to choose to think and speak positively. It doesn't come naturally—and it doesn't happen overnight. In fact, it takes a lot of practice.
There will be days when you have setbacks, but just get back up, dust yourself off, and start again.
When a baby is learning to walk, he falls many, many times before he gains the confidence to walk. Failing from time to time—which you will do—doesn't mean you're a failure. It simply means that you don't do everything right all the time.
Well, neither does anyone else.
If you've been consumed with negative thinking and speaking, the pathway to your freedom begins when you face the problem without making excuses for it.
Be patient with yourself. As you change your thinking, your words will change and so will your life!

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This article is taken from Joyce's audio teaching, Change.