Changing thoughts
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Changing thoughts

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Posted by Sandman on December 29, 2010 at 17:00:24:

Beware of your thoughts for they become your words,
Beware of your words for they become your actions/behaviors,
Beware of your actions/behaviors for they become your habits,
Beware of your habits for they become your character,
Beware of your character for it becomes your destiny.

I have posted this text before. It connects "thoughts" with the last word "destiny". This posting focuses on the second line that ends with actions/behavior. So one way to stop a thought from becoming a habit is to change your behavior connected to a thought. Thoughts and behavior are closely related and by changing your behavior should be able to change our thoughts. Thoughts cannot survive without behavioral support.

Hypothesis: If a past thought has negative consequences, changing the behavior related to the thought may change the thought to something with positive consequences.

A negative thought has no power without the corresponding behavior to give it power. The quest is to find the correct behavior to stop negative thoughts and eventually produce positive thoughts.

First possible scenario for insomnia:
The thought is "I will have problems sleeping tonight or I will not be able to sleep tonight, etc." The behavior, which may be connected to an emotion like anger and stress, could be eating, watching TV, getting on the computer, etc. something that activates the brain which is not conducive to sleep. With a goal of changing to a positive thought, one behavioral option could be starting a bedtime routine with something like dimming the lights, drinking some herbal tea, playing some relaxing music, brushing your teeth, taking a hot soak in the tub and looking forward to the bed, thinking of bed as sanctuary with or without sleep. This is just a sample bedtime routine and you need to find a relaxing routine that will work for you.

I know I'm not covering all the options.

So if you have insomnia please post a follow-up describing-

A: Thoughts and emotions leading up to bed.
B: What you do 2 hours prior to bedtime.

Once we have A and B we can work on a change in behavior that could help with changing the thoughts and emotions.

Sandman

Disclaimer, I am not an MD and my opinions should not be taken as medical advice. If you feel that you need assistance with medications and/or diagnosis, you should seek medical advice from a qualified physician.

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PLEASE ONLY CLICK THE SUBMIT FOLLOW UP BUTTON ONCE!!. Thanks, Sandman

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