We Are Not Our Thoughts: Use The Right Tool For The Job

We are not our thoughts and beliefs, but we keep being told to fix, monitor, and control our thoughts so we can heal our bodies, change our personalities, get organized, and to achieve success and abundance. The messages seem to be that we are our thoughts. What’s the deal?

I had a conversation with a client who shared some confusion about the idea that we are not our thoughts. It immediately made me think about my dad’s workbench. I think it’s a great metaphor to help clarify.

My dad was a mechanical engineer and a gifted woodworker and fix-it guy. He always had an immaculate workspace. All tools were put in their places when not in use. He taught me to use the right tool for the job to do the best quality work. I must admit that occasionally I disregard this rule and use a butter knife as a screwdriver in a pinch. I wish I had learned the neat, organized parts of him.

We are not our thoughts or beliefs AND they do have enormous effects on every area of our lives. When we believe our thoughts about ourselves and others, they affect our health, wellbeing, and relationships. Thoughts and beliefs create our personal identities. Our thoughts and beliefs literally create health or disease, wealth or poverty, and joy or suffering.

These cause-and-effect relationships are shown in mainstream science. See “Mind Over Matter” and “You are the Placebo” for excellent reviews and explanations of how it works. Our thoughts and beliefs physically affect how our chemistry works and how our genes get expressed. Your genes can’t activate themselves. They are more like light switches. Something must switch them on or off and in what combinations. You have tremendous influence, but not total control, on the cell environments of your body.

We are such amazing organisms. Oh, and this is not about blaming anyone for their situation or health. It is about recognizing cause and effect. If you kick a ball, it moves.

We are not our egos or personalities either. Our thoughts and beliefs are tools with which we build our entire lives. Beliefs are merely rehearsed thoughts. They are big power tools like bulldozers and table saws. Thoughts can be subtle like tiny eyeglass screwdrivers or they can have the intensity and precision of a laser knife.

Thoughts and beliefs are tools. My dad’s advice to use the right tool for the job was wise. Wise, not just so you can avoid smashing a hole in the wall while trying to place a picture hanger with a sledgehammer. Wise because using the proper tools for the job results in a beautiful well-built home that fits your needs, is sturdy, can withstand the weather, will last as long as you need it to, and can be remodeled anytime and in any way you like.

Thoughts and beliefs are not who you really are. They are the tools you use to free your true self and to create the life you really want. So, use your thoughts and beliefs kindly and wisely for your health, wealth, and happiness.

Now, there’s a little more…What do you do with all those crazy thoughts?

Trevor Blake calls it, Mentality Control. It’s about the conscious choosing of where you focus your attention, how you choose thoughts and behaviors, and how you respond to the inevitable negativity of the human mind. The direction of choice is toward what feels better.

Our brains evolved to constantly scan the environment for threats. Our brains perceive dangers everywhere like the pile of bills in the mailbox, the credit card statement, kids, work, coronavirus. Our brains make these everyday experiences into bears! But, we live our modern lives in relative physical safety despite our perceptions.

So, what should you do? Start here…

Notice how your thoughts feel. Most likely you’ll notice that when you’re focusing on things you don’t like and don’t want, you feel bad. That’s your signal to shift your mind to what you DO want and what you want to work FOR. Visualize and feel those things you want in detail. Reframe your perceptions.

Also, like you pay attention to what you eat, be aware of what you are consuming in terms of media and the people in your environment. If you hang with negative people complaining about “how things are”, then you’re in a toxic environment that will elicit the same from you. If you’re watching news programs or violent or fearful TV shows, you’re cultivating that flavor of thinking in your own mind. That’s because of mirror neurons in our brains. Look that up to learn more.

The point is, I urge you to be very choosy about what you consume! The people you hang out with, the things you watch and listen to, your habits of thought determine your well-being!

Wisely using the tool of your mind, might be the most important thing you do to change your life!

This was sort of channeled so thank you Universe for the download.