Taming The Monkey Mind

So many of us are victims of  our minds. We have thoughts rushing around in our heads keeping us awake at nights and stressing us out. Our minds criticize us, make us fearful when we do not need to be; create dramas that turn molehills into mountains; and if unchecked can be quite destructive, making our lives miserable.


So what to do? 
Firstly, recognise that you can choose not to be a victim of your mind and secondly, understand that you can gain control of your thoughts. 
As with anything, controlling what you think takes practise, patience with yourself and perseverance. But it can be done.
To begin controlling your thoughts, you have to become aware of what you are thinking. I know this sounds silly, but so many of us do not pay attention to what we are thinking; or for that matter, what we are saying to ourselves. 
How many times have you heard people describe themselves in a negative fashion? I hear it all the time. Phrases like:  "I am such a dummy."  "I am not good enough to............."  "I am not attractive enough," "I am too old to ....." "I am too fat." . The list of negative talk about ourselves is endless. Each time we repeat a negative phrase about ourselves in our minds or out loud, we are reinforcing a negative belief about ourselves. Allowing ourselves to mindlessly continue with these negative thought patterns is not healthy! What we need to do is re-program our selves  in a way that frees us from all the negative self talk that we have been living with.
One really good way of re-programming and controlling our minds is by the use of affirmations.
For an affirmation to be effective, it needs to be written in the now; be easy to read, write and remember and be focussed on what you want, not what you do not want. For example: 

• "One day I will be happy" will not work, as one day never comes. It puts the result that you want way out into the future and so you never get to have the happiness that you want.
• "Today is a happy day" is much better, because it focuses on you having happiness now; and that is when you want it.
• Another trick to creating useful affirmations is to make them as specific as possible e.g.  " I deserve love, happiness and abundance in my life."
• One of my tricks is to create for myself an affirmation card on which I write the affirmation and include a picture of some sort. I find the picture helps me to remember and focus on the affirmation.
• Affirmations need to be used as often as you can each day. Apparently it takes about 21 days to create a new habit, and affirmations help you to create new helpful thought habits.

Creating and using affirmations allows us to take control of our minds. Each time we become aware that our minds are over-active and making us feel bad, we can control our minds by refusing to listen and  repeating an affirmation until our mind gives up. This takes practice, just like any other skill. So be kind to yourself and keep at it.  Believe me it is worth it!