Do your thoughts define you?

Something I’ve been thinking a lot about lately is the power of our thoughts and the impact of our actions. If I were to ask you, do you dwell on your thoughts and do you believe that they contribute to defining who you are? Or do they flee as quickly as they enter your mind? And are you defined by your actions?

As I was rapidly peddling on my Peloton, as I usually am early on Monday mornings, I was about two thirds of the way through my class and suddenly became extremely exhausted, but that’s nothing new. My legs began to feel like lead, my heart was racing faster than it probably should have been at that point, and then I began to think to myself “I am really tired, but I really want to surpass my previous numbers from my last ride. I don’t know if I can do this. Maybe I should stop here?” I tried encouraging myself saying “This is only a 45-minute ride, and you only have 13 minutes to go, you can do it.” 

Just as the fatigue set in, Ben, my instructor, and one of my favorites, reminded us that “with every struggle, we build our strength." I kept thinking to myself, “I love that!” He’s always reminding us that he’s got our back and that we can do it. He has quite an ‘encouragers heart!’

I believe that people are put in our lives at various times to encourage us. However, above all, I believe that we are to encourage ourselves and in everything we do. Whether that means being our own cheerleader and telling ourselves that we can do it, reminding ourselves of past successes and accomplishments, or praying for strength during a time of need.

Tunde, another favorite Peloton instructor commented during another ride, that our brain is one of the most powerful muscles in our bodies. I then began to mull this over and thought to myself, I’ve always known that our brain is an organ and that it is powerful. However, I now know that according to research, that the brain is more of a muscle - it changes and gets stronger when you use it. It plays a role in every one of our functions and controls many of our organs, our thoughts, memory, speech, and our various movements.

I often wondered how to describe the difference between our brains and our minds and what I found out is that our brains control our movements, emotions, and various bodily functions; our minds allude to our mortality, reasoning, and understanding. 

Now, back to my Peloton story. Just because you think something or have particular thought, it doesn’t mean it defines you as a person. I could have easily let the tiredness and my self-defeating thoughts and attitude succeed, which in turn, would have affected my actions - quitting and feeling bad about myself. However, I chose to be encouraged by my instructor and by reminding myself of the previous successes that I’ve had. I also reminded myself of why I was riding my bike, and that with each pedal stroke, I was getting stronger and more toned. I’ve learned that I can choose to not dwell on a thought, but to let the thought go, especially if it doesn’t serve me well.  

Food for thought: according to the National Science Foundation on an article, summarizing research in human thoughts per day, “it was found that the average person has about 12,000 to 60,000 thoughts per day.” 

I wholeheartedly believe that we do in fact have power and control over our thoughts and the words that come out of our mouth. I have also learned, as a Christian, to guard my thoughts, examine them, and make sure they are obedient to scripture. However, just as I am human and not perfect, I make mistakes.

Joyce Meyer, an author, speaker and president of Joyce Meyer Ministries, wrote a book called Battlefield of the Mind (Battlefield of the Mind: Winning the Battle in Your Mind: Meyer, Joyce: 9780892968268: Amazon.com: Books) - Winning the Battle in your Mind. Her book reminded me how important my thoughts and words are. She also says that “The mind is the leader or forerunner of all actions…. Our actions are a direct result of our thoughts.” She also goes on to say that “So many people’s problems are rooted in thinking patterns that actually produce the problems they experience in their lives… that “The mind is the battlefield. It is a vital necessity that we lineup our thoughts with God’s thoughts.”

A penny for your thoughts...