The Courage to Be You

The "I" in S-T-R-I-V-E

"I" is for Invite. Our goal is to stop an unhealthy thought in its tracks. After we've Stopped (S) it, found the Truth (T), and Replaced (R) the bad thought, go ahead and literally Invite the truth into your mind. Welcome it with open, loving arms. Show Truth the home you've reserved for it; right where the old unhealthy thought was.

It's a game I know, but our mind and ego want control- even demand  control - so we must do all we can to take charge. I find it is also beneficial in creating the "new you" in your mind. You won't be the same person when you start to replace old worn-out thinking with what is really right and true. Welcome to your new world. You'll love it!

Is This You?

Do you recognize any of these symptoms of unhealthy thinking? Stress - worry - overeating - lack of energy - health problems - pessimism - judging everything - blaming > add your own. This was all part of my daily game. Here's what can happen when you take charge of your life and get your mind in shape.

I lost 35 pounds, got off of anti-depressants after 9 years, lowered my cholesterol and stopped the meds, eliminated my shortness of breath, increased my energy, gained healthier eating habits, started exercising again, began loving life, and soooo much more. Email me if you wish know.

This was and is accomplished through faith and the learned discipline of healthy thinking. Taking pills to fix my mind and body was killing me. Changing my thinking to change my life was and is the answer.

The R in S-T-R-I-V-E

R stands for REPLACE. If we replace the unhealthy thought with the truth, the second step of S-T-R-I-V-E, a foundation is built to move forward. Replacing the old fat filled thinking, is like turning to face the opposite direction. We can't be looking forward and backward at the same time. Looking forward empowers us. Looking backward zaps our energy.

If, however, we focus on fixing our unhealthy thoughts, we get caught up in the old and what is wrong. You can paint a snake to change it, but it's still a snake. Our attempt to fix wrong thinking is like the painted snake. So replace unhealthy thoughts rather than repair.

Healthy Mind Month

May is National Mental Health Month. (Note - it's not National Mental Illness Month.) "Mental Health" is negatively biased in our society and is rarely discussed. Hear this! Mental HEALTH is for you and me. It's as vital as physical health - maybe more so.

We assume if we don't have a mental illness, therefore, we must be mentally healthy. Compare that to the thinking if we have no physical ailments, then we must physically fit.  We can't simply achieve one by not having the opposite.

If we want to enjoy our lives to the fullest, we must work to be mentally healthy. I frame it becoming a "healthy thinker." It's no different than working out daily. We must make the effort and have the know how. This is the driving force behind this blog site. To help you and me become "healthy thinkers" and change lives in doing so.

I'm out to make a huge difference in this world, and I want you included.

The "T" in S-T-R-I-V-E

"T" stands for TRUTH. Failure to recognize and face the truth is one of the most common blocks to personal growth. Recognizing truth is not as simple as it seems, particularly when the lies of our past are involved. Like the voice of our internal judge that says, "You're no good," or "You can't do that."

Another source of lies are in our everyday stresses. Driving yesterday I encountered extreme road rage. The guy passed me on the double yellow and then tried several times to get me to rear-end him. Sad thing, I don't have a clue what I did to cause his outburst. (Am I that old? Is it time to move to Florida and drive slow?) Of course I wanted to explode back, but looked for truth.

Truth is, his anger is all about his problems. Whatever I did, was not done on purpose or to harm him. The truth is if I let it ruin the rest of my day, then that's my decision. The truth freed me from my emotions - and I sure needed that.

INSPIRE

Can you imagine working for a company that is so well managed the employees make a video for the CEO to show their appreciation and.... to tell them how much they love him? Not just an average homemade video either. A real employee production with original music - even won a national award. It's true. Just ask Mount Carmel Health System, Columbus, OH.

Principals from the book, INSPIRE! What Great Leaders Do, by Lance Secretan drove the training behind this incredible event. One aspect of Mr. Secretan's teaching is Servant/Leader. The boss is there to serve the employees, so they can perform at their highest level. (I think we've heard that before. His name was Christ).

I spent 3 days at a coaching conference with Mr. Secretan, and he is as awesome in person as his book is "inspiring." Leadership or just personal growth, it's worth the reading time.

S in S-T-R-I-V-E

S stands for STOP. Recognize and STOP that negative thought - now! We can stop them too. Much of the time we allow our thoughts to run wild in our head. I call it "Monkey Minding." Our mind swings from thought to thought like a monkey on a vine in the forest.

One person suggested saying STOP out loud and stomping a foot. We need to let our mind know we are serious. We are in charge. We don't have to "be" our minds and go wherever they wish to swing. Our minds are a part of us. They don't have to define us.

In the beginning we'll need to use STOP more than once on the same thought. Try it soon. It really does work.

S-T-R-I-V-E

STRIVE is my acronym for stopping lard thinking; fat filled and totally unhealthy thought patterns. I need a system to break these long time thinking habits, so that I can replace them with new, healthy ones. Maybe this will help you too:

• S = STOP - recognize and stop the thought in it's tracks. Say STOP to yourself.
• T = TRUTH - look for the deep truth. Most of our lard thinking is based on lies. The truth will set  us free.
• R = REPLACE - we must replace the unhealthy with healthy. We can't fix or change the lard thought into olive oil.
• I = INVITE - picture yourself inviting your new thought into your mind and heart. Actually welcoming it as it replaces the old.
• V = VISUALIZE - close your eyes and vividly see yourself doing the S-T-R-I parts from above.
• E = EXPERIENCE - feel what it would be like to already be living this new habit as your default. Experience in your mind the calming, stress-free feelings you would enjoy.

I will discuss each one of these in more detail in the upcoming posts. And remember, it takes a good 60 days of this to breakdown the lard.

Heart Attack Thinking

You already know in your gut that stress kills. But it's the other guy's stress that is bad, not mine. I can handle it. We know it can't be healthy to run on maximum most of the time with life stretching us 10 different directions. STRESSED OUT! Look at the faces of people driving, walking, working. That tells the story.

The Society for Neuroscience reports in their Brain Facts pdf download, "Stressful experiences have a direct effect on the heart rate and blood pressure. When stressors are chronic and psychological (my italics), the effect can be extremely harmful and result in an increased risk for heart attack."

Isn't most stress caused by how we process our life - by our thinking? Learning to reduce your stress through healthy thinking may save your life. Read that again. Put the tips on this site to work in our lives by replacing our heart attack thinking. It's a killer ya know.

Simple, Not Easy

Many of our personal development goals and desires are really quite simple. We don't want them to be simple. We are so used to complicated and overwhelming that simple is kind of an insult, really. And if they are simple, why haven't we already achieved them?

Simple means just do these few things, give up that habit, or change our thinking and we've got it. But simple doesn't mean easy. And difficult doesn't have to be complicated. Think about quitting smoking. It's relatively simple, but extremely difficult.

Most of us give up too soon because our desired change is so difficult. Or, we stop short thinking we've accomplished the change without fully breaking the old habit. We need to keep it simple, but turn up the toughness a couple notches.