It was a gorgeous winter day…not too cold, but bright and sunny. The holidays were over, everything had gone great. The birds were singing, the river was gurgling away happily…and yet on this hike, I felt like crap. For whatever reason, my brain seemed to want to dwell on events in my life that cause me pain when I think about them. Like some close friends that are going through a super rough time right now. Then it was how much I missed my previous Jack Russell, Willie. Then it was about the moments when I took him to the vet for the last time. Which lead to thoughts about all the animal death I’ve experienced in my life. And then that just snowballed into how life is painful and work is stressful and OMG I’m still single. I was close to tears and on the verge of a panic attack when thankfully, I remembered that I get to be the boss of my thoughts.
For almost half of the hike, I had let my thoughts swarm and ambush me, unbidden. I felt surrounded. This is because, as Brooke Castillo, head of The Life Coach School, likes to say, letting your mind spin around unsupervised is like letting a three-year-old run around with a knife…unsupervised. And she’s totally right. It kind of blows my mind to think about this: when I got on the trail that morning, not ONE circumstance in my life as it pertained to my thoughts had changed from the week before. It’s not like I had just put my dog down or like my friends’ struggle was a new development or like work wasn’t the same as it’s always been. Yet my emotional experience on last week’s hike was very different from this week’s hike. It was much less painful…because my thoughts about my previous dog, my friends and my work were different last week. So there I am, almost at the halfway point of this week’s walk, and I realize that I am letting the three-year-old with the knife have a field day in my head. And that knife if pointy! So I stopped walking. I prayed. I asked the Lord to help me get ahold of my thoughts. And I chose to stop thinking all those painful thoughts. The rest of the hike was tons more enjoyable. I’m not saying there aren’t times when allowing myself to think painful thoughts and experience the pain is the worst thing I can do. In the immediate weeks after Willie was gone, I allowed myself plenty of time to grieve. When my friends let me know that they were having a hard time, I empathized and grieved with them. But me thinking about these things now…in Willie’s case, over a year after the event…doesn’t serve me at all. Me getting tearful about my friends while I’m hiking is not helping them. 
Me allowing my brain to make me miserable is pointless. God gives us some pretty good suggestions for what kind of things to dwell on: “…whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” (Philippians 4:8 NIV) When I choose thoughts that fit these criteria, I feel lighter. I feel refreshed. I feel ready to be present for my friends who could benefit from my support right now. I feel excited about the work week ahead and how much I will accomplish. So when you find yourself feeling crappy, ask yourself what it is that is making you feel that way. What thought is running around in your brain a pointy knife? Then be the boss. Tell that thought to go put the knife away and don’t come back. Find a thought that brings you peace, or joy, or excitement, or all of those things, and dwell on that. I guarantee you won’t regret it. I’d love to hear how this practice works for you in the weeks to come! It gets easier the more you do it, I promise! Shoot me a comment below and let me know what you discover…and make sure sharp knives are out of reach of that three-year-old… Note: Check out Brooke Castillo’s weekly podcast here : http://thelifecoachschool.com/category/podcasts I can’t say enough about how much she has helped me be the boss of my thoughts! 
Why You Need To Be The Boss Of Your Brain
