Monday, March 29, 2010

the view widens...

Prob'ly I should keep these thoughts to myself, but this is where I think, so....

(Feel free to skip over this.)

Yet again I can relate this book to my broader vision or philosophy -

(Talking about the negative, depressive voices we hear -and listen to- in our heads)
"What is most debilitiating about negative thinking is that those voices slip in the back way, unannounced, and start taking over the sound system and manipulating our feelings. As psychologist William Kanaus says, "You can tell a depressive thought by its results, you feel worse." Falling prey to emotional reasoning, we mistake feeling bad as validation of the thoughts, when actually it's just a natural and temporary reaction to hearing something unpleasant; it doesn't permanently change the reality of what is true. We need a bouncer at the door of our mind who informs us through the intercom, "This is your negativity talking. This is not a voice to be trusted." to protect us from the effects of just letting that voice in."
Tamar E. Chansky, Freeing Your Child From Negative Thinking

Though I usually muddle through these things on my own - and do alright, mostly (if very, very slowly) - it is very reassuring to read about such things in a book, and know that someone has an idea or two about switching things around.

I am wholeheartedly a person who believes in not only "what you think about grows", but also that "when you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change", and so I try my best to slam the door on the negative thoughts pretty quickly and effectively.

We'll see what the ideas are here about changing the relationship with the thoughts, and how that relates to my own ideas of "wanting to feel good".

2 comments:

Alison Agnew said...

I read once that negative thoughts, especially those which cause us to like ourselves less, are lies that come straight from the deepest pit of hell. And I agree. I am a child of the Most High, created in His perfect image. Covered with His fingerprints. The way I most successfully battle those neg. thoughts is through prayer and being ever mindful of the truth of who I am in Him.

Stephanie said...

Well, they cause hell, that's for sure.