Peace of Mind

Peace of mind…

Is this just a lofty idea for living in such a busy, sometimes painful, and loud world? Is it really plausible to have a moment of stillness in our mind when our schedules, family, work demands, and social lives are constantly tugging at our ears, eyes, hearts, and bodies? To many people, silence that may accompany peace of mind can be scary. Leaving space for thoughts and memories that may have been tucked away behind the noise. To others silence is an unattainable ideal, unless they get up at 4am before the electronics, kids, and rooster starts crowing.

I have been reminded lately on the importance of meditating on God’s word  and taking control of what I think upon.

In Psalms 1:1-3, the entire book opens up with this important bit of knowledge: “Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—whatever they do prospers.” (NIV)

I always hear the word meditation when I take yoga classes. Sometimes I pray or think nice thoughts but I really just end up hoping my body doesn’t decide to make an embarrassing noise in the quiet darkness of the yoga studio.

As nice  as yoga is (and I highly recommend it – your body will thank you), this is certainly not the only time I should consider meditating on purpose. I need to meditate on God’s word in my heart and mind at all times. Not just in my morning devo time, but at all times.

I love how engaging in meditation is an active state of being and not passive. It is the actual passive thinking that does us harm. Our mind can get stuck in “ruts” and a word, person, or even time of day can trigger your mind into a downward spiral. Guilt, worry, bad memories, comparison, doubt. All of these can quickly fill up my mind at times. So, this means we literally have to tell our mind what to think upon and not just let anything fill it up. Meditate on His Word and His promises!!!

Metacognition – thinking about what we’re thinking about – is one of my favorite words. So I am going to take this challenge. To actively stop myself when something starts taking over my mind in a negative way. Whatever has triggered this negativity doesn’t have power. Maybe it’s something someone said to me in passing that day, or even that past month, year, etc (you know what I mean). Maybe it’s an emotion that crept up like anger or guilt when I’ve said something silly or when a car cuts me off raising my blood pressure.

I plan to acknowledge the moment, ask myself if there is something I can do to remediate it, and close the door on it. Bang. Using the time that is left over in my head to meditate on God’s goodness is the next step. Reading over favorite verses posted within eye sight is a tangible action I take. I wish I could recite more verses from memory in the Bible, but in the heat of the moment reading it out loud is PERFECT. Maybe if you’re in your car you can turn on some positive music or a good podcast you have (there are lots of free ones out there). Then I am going to think about something awesome that recently happened in my life or just something I am looking forward to! And then…I will smile! Ahhh…peace of mind!

Ok, let’s see how it goes. I have been trying it out lately and it has been a little  bumpy so far but I really want to get it strengthened. I dare say it will continue to take me awhile to really get into the groove of it. What is it they say…21 days to make a habit? 🙂

Will you try this out with me?

Taking it to Heart:

1. Acknowledge the thought.

2. Try to remediate the wrong, if possible. Make an action step if you need to.

3. Push out the lingering thought with God’s word. (Say it out loud if you can)

4. Actively think about a blessing or new activity coming up.

5. Smile. (Yes, it will change the way you feel, I promise.)

p.s.- I do not claim to be a counselor or life coach. I understand some thoughts and patterns are very strong and take the care of a professional to work through.