I had 25 negative thoughts in less than 13 min.

Sweet Stephanie Sunshine · Post by **Sweet Stephanie Sunshine** » Wed Jul 30, 2008 8:30 am

I found it interesting that in my workbook, Lucinda said to write down 10 positive things about you and your life. She also says that on average, people have 300 negative thoughts a day, I believe. That is one negative thought about every 2 and a half minutes. Lucinda says to make a tic mark on a little piece of paper every time you have a negative thought. So I chose to do this while answering one of the questions in the notebook. Every time I had a negative thought while writing ten positive thoughts about myself, I decided to stop and put a tiny tic mark at the top of my page. WOULD YOU BELIEVE THAT IN LESS THAN 13 MINUTES, I HAD 25, YES, 25 NEGATIVE THOUGHTS! WOW~That is when my eyes were opened BIG TIME! Things started changing after that! Some of these thoughts were repeat thoughts. I realized that I am pretty extreme in my thinking! I have cut this down by writing down a negative thought right away and then writing down a positive thought. Just like Lucinda says to do. IT'S WORKING!!!! My mind is calmer and clearer now, in only days of discovering this new fact about myself!

lil_bit · Post by **lil_bit** » Wed Jul 30, 2008 8:48 am

I haven't started marking down my negative thoughts yet, to be perfectly honest I'm a little afraid to because I know it's gonna be quite the list. I am going to start doing it today though because I understand how it will help me to be aware of the negative thoughts and give me the opportunity to replace them with positive self talk.

*runs off to get the BIG notebook and new pack of pens to keep track of negative thoughts*

proudmomof2 · Post by **proudmomof2** » Wed Jul 30, 2008 8:48 am

Thats wonderful. I too am surprised by how negative I am when I actually stop and listen to myself. Even with positive thoughts, I tack the "but" on the end to make it negative. This will be a hard lesson to learn, but I am sticking with it.

BW · Post by BW » Wed Jul 30, 2008 9:22 am

Oh, I know just what you mean about tacking the negative but onto the positive thought! I was making a list of positives in my life and ended up in tears, and they weren't tears of gratitude. I listed my college education, but that dredged up all kinds of negative thoughts, since I've been an at-home mom since 1989, and now that I'm an empty-nester, I'm not sure what to do about a job/career. The next day I listed all the negatives I could think of on that topic and came back with a positive for each one, and it did make me feel a little better about the whole thing. It made me realize that maybe I was being a bit too hard on myself.

BePositive-Amy · Post by **BePositive-Amy** » Wed Jul 30, 2008 11:22 am

Its great for you to realize how much negative you had within in 13 minutes. Thats why writing down everytime u have those thoughts helps you to face it and see how much your think has running on negative the more you practice and face and try to challenge them too or change them positive the less you will have negative thoughts within 13 mins. I am glad you share with us!

Unicorn1524 · Post by **Unicorn1524** » Wed Jul 30, 2008 6:12 pm

It was quite shocking to realize how negative a thinker I was. That was a big step in the process of recovery, though. Just knowing that it is my thoughts that are causing my problems was quite freeing in a way.

I still fight being negative, but I'm getting so much better at it the more I practice. Even if I'm not thinking really positively all the time, at least I'm finding myself being on neutral ground more often than going to the negative side.

Every little positive thought is a step in recovery.

KDlady · Post by **KDlady** » Thu Jul 31, 2008 3:52 am

I noticed the more I see how negative they are and how our brains just shoot out random things all the time, the less afraid I'm becoming of them. Sure, some of them are scary and ugly, but they really are just thoughts and don't have to have the power that they have for so long.
All the best to you each day on this journey!