PAUSE

I recently started a new book- “Don’t Believe Everything You Think” by Joseph Nguyen. So far, it’s a really good book. I could tell that the author wrote this book from a spiritual point of view but did not allude to Jesus as the truth to this. The book describes that our suffering comes directly from our thinking. We all think. The author describes thoughts as random ideas that pop up into our head, the connotation we prescribe to the thoughts become thinking, thinking (usually negative) leads to spiraling. I don’t know about you, but my mind runs a thousand miles a minute… I’m serious, sometimes I wonder how fast it’s going. Especially when I’m stressed or worried. As a self-proclaimed introvert, don’t even get me started about what it does in public with a million people. Let’s say, some days I’m completely exhausted. I know I am not the only one. I know that others share in this pain, hence why I write this. This book really opened my eyes. According to the author, we stop our minds by the recognition and awareness of when our minds drift from thoughts to thinking, in particular “connotation thinking.” For example, as I sit at one of my favorite coffee shops I notice someone staring at me, “they must be staring at me because I have something on my face, my outfit must look terrible, there has to be something wrong with me.” All the while, they are completely lost in their own thoughts, unaware of me. This negative connotation I prescribed started the spiral and left me feeling, well… terrible about myself.

I’ll give you a solution to this problem soon, I promise.

I got to thinking, the apostle Paul says in Philippians 4:8, “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. I strongly believe that everything written in the bible is Christ breathed. If God took the time to tell us to think positively, have you ever thought how bad it would be not to listen? Is this the foothold where the devil can take hold? Be your own judge, for me, I think so. Remember, God only tells us to do something OR not do something else because of his Love for us as well as our own well-being. He truly only wants the best of us.

So how do you fix this. Well, Joseph Nguyen suggests to use the PAUSE method- pause, ask, understand, say, and experience. Pause and notice the thinking pattern, ask yourself if this is serving you, understand your emotions, say- “thinking is the root cause of suffering”, and freely experience your emotions. While I don’t disagree with the analogy, I do think it can be enhanced, in the only way I know how- with Christ at the center. Here is my take:

Pause + Pray- take notice of the thoughts and actively hand it to God- “Lord, I know that this is not very Philippians 4:8 of me”

Ask- “Lord, help me in this moment to let go of these negative thoughts and replace them with pure, lovely, and admirable ones.”

Understand- Recognize that this is a trap of the evil one and that you have the ability to rebuke and take control.

Say- “Lord, I know that I am stronger than this moment and I have the ability to change my thinking and apply positive connotations to this thinking pattern.”

Expect- Know that the Lord hears you and will answer your prayer. “Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened for you” Matthew 7:7.

Isn’t it funny how this method is one continuous prayer ;) Try it the next time you begin to spiral, God’s got you!