“Thoughts—optimistic, pessimistic, and everything in between—flit through our minds all day long.”

A thought by H. Norman Wright DMin. from his book, A Better Way to Think: Using Positive Thoughts to Change Your Life (p.11). Baker Publishing Group.

So, I wonder how many thoughts we think every day?

Norman says, “We couldn’t possibly count the number of thoughts we have each day. There are far too many. Would you guess a thousand? Five thousand? Ten thousand? Depending on how active your mind is, you may produce more than 45,000 thoughts a day. Whew! It might be compared to a flock of birds flying in and out of your mind.

He goes on, “The rate at which we can express those thoughts is far slower. Some research suggests we speak at about 200 words per minute. But we can listen to and process 1,300 words per minute!

“This barrage of thoughts can overwhelm us. Sometimes it seems we can’t process them all fast enough. Sometimes we know what we’re thinking but can’t form the words to express those ideas. Sound familiar?

“So, what exactly are thoughts? Well, they’re the ways in which we’re conscious of things. They’re made up of our memories, our perceptions, our beliefs. They’re glimpses, even snippets, of ideas. They make up one of the most basic facets of life.”

He says, “Our thoughts determine the orientation of everything we do. They evoke the feelings that frame our world and motivate our actions. And they have the power to change the way we feel.”

He later says, “Think about this: You can’t evoke thoughts by feeling a certain way. But you can evoke and, to some degree, control feelings by directing your thoughts.

“So, having control over our own thoughts gives us the power to direct our feelings. But our feelings aren’t directed solely by will. We can’t just choose our feelings. Still, we can guide them with our thoughts.

“That’s important because our thoughts are the origin of our behaviors. Each behavior begins this way: A thought stimulates an electrochemical response, which produces emotion; emotion results in an attitude; attitude produces behavior. This process affects the way we think and feel physically. So negative or toxic thoughts produce toxic emotions. Those produce toxic attitudes, which result in toxic behavior.”

And this is so important to see.  He says, “Our ability to think and represent things to ourselves also enables us to bring vast ranges of reality—and nonreality—into our lives. Basically, that means that with our thoughts, we can usher good or bad things into our lives, real or imagined, depending on the content of our thoughts.”

That is one reason I start my day in God’s Word and in prayer.  Norman says, “that with our thoughts, we can usher good or bad things into our lives, real or imagined, depending on the content of our thoughts.”  You want good things to happen in your day, don’t you?  You want to be able to handle whatever comes in your day, don’t you? 

Yes, yes!