Think…”Switch”

I remember many years ago, taking my morning walk and listening to a Tony Robbins’ tape Reen recently purchased. Tony spoke of something that he termed “Pattern Interrupt.” This term referred to the fact that with the thousands of thoughts we think daily, many times we repeat the same thoughts endlessly until they become a pattern in our thinking and our lives. If you tell yourself that you are ugly, fat, stupid, or heartless enough times throughout the day, your brain will agree with you. Before you know it, these words become your reality (whether true or false).

So how do we accomplish a “Pattern Interrupt” in our lives, particularly if these words are impressed on our minds for a lifetime by others or ourselves. I read a new way to change our thinking this week and I’ve embraced it. And it works!

When thoughts inconsistent with Jesus’ view of me (according to the Bible) become stuck in my head, I now quickly remove these thoughts with the key word “SWITCH”. Marie Banich, Ph. D., professor of psychology and neuroscience at Colorado University in Boulder explains that one excellent way to purge your mind of negative script is to deliberately start thinking about something completely different, by staring at (or imagining) a sunny day or beautiful flower. “It’s like shining a light on the item you’re trying to erase, so that your brain will know what to forget, opening a slot for new information,” she says.

It signals the brain to switch what I am thinking about and change to a different subject. If you continue doing this the brain will understand that this thought is to be eliminated from constant, conscious thought, and quickly replaced.

When Paul tells us in Romans, “we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ,” (2 Corinthians 10:5) God gives us the ability to do this. Our brains are an amazing creation and God desires that we tend and care for them, disciplining them as we would any other aspect of our bodies. As Marcus Aurelius writes, “Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking.”

So the next time you think a thought that does not encourage, uplift, or strengthen your life, “SWITCH” IT. You’ll be glad you did!