What is the quality of my thoughts today?

One of the many benefits of meditation and mindfulness is the discovery of recurring thoughts that
are no longer useful, relevant, or productive. And, many of these thoughts may be the underlying cause of emotional pain such as: fear, anger, depression, and anxiety. The originator of these thought seeds may have been another person such as a relative or acquaintance, it may have come from a place of self-doubt, circumstances in the past or from parts-unknown. Regardless of the original source of these mental weeds, they have now become a part of us and are doing damage to the quality of our lives. Negative thinking patterns such as “My work is never good enough” or “I am not capable of making decisions” or “I can never earn more than minimum wage” and many more are common examples and may show up even though we no longer subscribe to the originator’s notions. The first step in tending the garden of our mind, is to sort out the weeds from the blossoms, identifying the negative thought patterns from the healthy ones. However, in the hubbub of our busy lives these subtle thoughts may not be readily obvious.

Try this: 

At the end of a regular meditation, take a few moments to reflect on the last 24 hours. And, ask yourself, "Have I experienced emotional pain such as fear, anger, anxiety, etc in the last 24 hours? and If so, "Are there any thoughts associated with these negative emotions?" Try your best to let these thoughts bubble up and become clear phrases or sentences. If you are unable to form sentences or phrases, try to capture single words that are feeding that harsh emotion. Be sure to record these in a journal with the entry date, so that you can further refine the idea and make note as to how often these thoughts arise. This first step places you in an optimal position to work towards reducing and replacing the outdated thinking patterns with your trusted adviser, coach, or mentor.

As a single footstep will not make a path on the Earth, so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind. To make a deep physical path, we walk again and again. To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives. - Henry David Thoreau

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