Thought Management Can Change Your Life!
Reviewed By: Nicole Cauchois, LCPC, LADC
Written By: Jodi Augustine-Evans, CPC-I
Managing Our Thinking
Managing thoughts is one of my all-time favorite subjects. I am passionate about teaching others this skill! It might sound easy, but managing thoughts takes practice, effort, and consistency. Once you start implementing the practice it can and is life-changing.
My Experience Managing My Own Thinking
I have been practicing managing my thoughts for many years. I certainly don’t think I am perfect at it, and still, at times, I find myself dealing with a circumstance without initially implementing thought management. When I don’t implement my superpower of thought management my issues may take longer to solve, but eventually, I put the practice to work! I can solve my issue by changing my thoughts, feelings, and behaviors regarding the incident.
The Poinsettia Lesson
Learning this skill reminds me of a recent discovery that poinsettias only need small amounts of water. I love poinsettias during the Christmas season. We bought a few dozen to give to my husband’s customers many years ago. I was lucky enough to have them all in my house for a week and placed them all over creating a scene of red and green colored landscape. It created joy for me because I love plants and flowers in general. I was sad when my landscape of poinsettias dwindled as my husband one by one gave them away to his patrons.
Though I don’t get dozens of poinsettias most years, I buy a few; maybe more! Living in the desert my thoughts about poinsettias included that they need cool temperatures and lots of water. But this is not the case with watering they need to be mostly dry and then they can have a long life. However, for years my poinsettias died within weeks and sometimes days. I would try to time the purchase of my poinsettias just right so when I had my family and friends to celebrate the season my poinsettias looked alive and healthy instead of leaves falling off the plant and listless.
This past year was a full season and I bought two plants and kept them on my table in the living room, a room I don’t frequently spend time, the plants were out of sight and out of mind so they were not getting water consistently. This was a gift! This was when I realized that my poinsettia plants had been getting more moisture than they needed. This practice of caring for my poinsettia took years of practice, failure and not giving up.
This experience was a reminder that most things in life we want to do intentionally take a lot of practice just like managing our thoughts. Thoughts are important to manage because our thoughts, create our feelings and the outcome of thoughts and feelings is our behavior.
Intentional Thought Management
When we can intentionally manage our thoughts more consistently we can live life the way we choose rather than allowing any thought to pull or push us in directions we do not desire. This practice might sound simple to manage thoughts but it will take time, effort consistency, and fortitude. But if you choose to manage your thoughts it can be life-altering…. I dare you to try!
Poinsettias
Books as a Man Thinketh
Take Control of Your Thoughts By Scheduling a Counseling Session
My fundamental philosophy includes person-centered counseling in conjunction with Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) with the idea that thoughts create feelings, and feelings create our actions or behaviors.
People can manage emotions and behaviors by choosing thoughts with intention and purpose!
All emotions are good. Life is not meant to be happy all day, every day, but feeling a range of emotions means embracing pain, levels of sadness, frustrations, guilt, anxiety, anger, heartache, and happiness. Good mental health encompasses understanding that we can learn and grow through adversity and embrace all emotions.
For further information on therapy or to schedule a consultation with Jodi, please visit The Healing Center's website at https://www.thehealingcentervegas.com/.
Contact The Healing Center via phone (702)505-1280 or email TheHealingCenterOperations@gmail.com.