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“98 or 99 percent of our thoughts are habitual.”

A thought by Mark Batterson, (2015-10-06) from his book, If: Trading Your If Only Regrets for God's What If Possibilities (Kindle Locations 1304-1305). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)

In other words, we think the same thing over and over each day and that is why we do the same thing over and over each day. That is why we live in a rut. 

As Mark puts it, “If you want to anchor yourself to what if, that won’t cut it. Your mind must be renewed day by day. You can’t keep thinking the same things and expect a different outcome, a different outlook. One simple way of overcoming habitual thinking is taking on a learning mindset. Make it your goal to learn something new every day. It can come from a book or a TED talk. It can come from a conversation or a class. It can come from a walk down the street.

One of the purposes for me personally in writing this particular blog is that I must always be reading a new book.  I used to write a blog that was just my old sermons.  But I wasn’t learning anything new so I changed.  I also wanted to expose you to some new book and hopefully get you to click on the title of the book at the top of this blog and go to Amazon and buy it.

When I ride the Metro train here in LA which I do 5 days a week I usually ride the Red and the Gold trains.  Well today I have taken the Blue and the Purple trains and I am sitting right now in the Starbucks at LALive.   I forgot how much I like this spot.  Something different.  Life doesn’t need to be lived in a rut, there are new adventures out there everyday even for a 68-year-old-man.

Mark continues, “The French poet Jacques Réda used to walk the streets of Paris with the intention of seeing one new thing each day. It’s the way he renewed his love for his city. It also kept him from falling into the trap of habitual thinking, a death trap if you’re a poet.”

There is so much out there that God wants to expose you to that will make you feel alive.  It starts with a new thought.  It starts in you mind.


So what new book are you going to start reading?
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Comments

  1. AnonymousOctober 30, 2015 at 9:40 PM

    Bill, this is a refreshing and absolutely cool post. I like you that you ventured onto another colored train, just to do something different. I find learning new things everyday has been a life saver. Forget being 68 because 6+8 = 14. Have a ball. Blessings my friend.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Bill WilliamsOctober 31, 2015 at 4:41 AM

    Thank you so. Life is fun and exciting.

    ReplyDelete

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