dailydatewithgod

In an attempt to be mindful about our experiences in life one of the first things to notice are the number of thoughts that run through our heads.  It is a non-stop barrage or a ticker-tape parade going on in the mind at all times.  Some mindfulness practices or meditation claim the absence of thought as the ultimate nirvana.  It could be, not sure I have gotten to that point yet.  However, for many who attempt a mindfulness or meditation practice, they think they are doing it wrong because they notice all the thoughts running through their head.  We all have to start somewhere.  We are often not aware of how many thoughts are present in our minds at any given time.  Taking a look can be a bit overwhelming at first.  But if we do not look, we cannot know what we are dealing with.  I have learned on my daily prayer and meditation dates with God that it is about being thoughtful about my thoughts.  My inclination when I am unaware of them is to believe all of them, to take them as truth because they are going through my mind.  Having thoughtfulness is about consciously choosing which thoughts are worth the energy to latch on to.  Thankfully I remember once in a while to not take myself so seriously and laugh at some of the thoughts that run through my mind.  Statistically speaking, there is no way they are all true or even real.  It is like the mind is trying to quantify its existence by coming up with thought after thought after thought.  With God’s help and remembering to pause and breathe I can take a closer look at choose to explore the thoughts that work for me.  Being thoughtful about fear is rarely helpful unless I am actually in some kind of danger.  Being thoughtful about hope works better.  The thoughtfulness our hearts calls us to are focusing on the thoughts that bring love every closer into the picture.  Thoughtfulness begins with ourselves and when we are able to latch on to the ones that work for us, we can extend thoughtfulness to others.