Just Continue That Thought...

A thought by H. Norman Wright DMin. from his book, Discovering Who You Are And How God Sees You.   (p.7). Baker Publishing Group (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) We really do, don’t we? Norman says, “Have you ever been there, in that bottomless pit where you wondered who you were, and no answers came? When it happens, it is frightening. We all need to have some meaning for who we are. “Any of us can suffer a loss of identity, but it is a loss that in most cases is preventable. That’s right: it can be prevented. Many identity losses are felt because the foundation we base our identity on is shaky. “Too often we think that striving for identity is a search done only when we are adolescents. Once we attain adulthood, it should be over, but it isn’t. Think about it for a minute. What do you base your identity on? Don’t you define yourself by your role, or what you do? Don’t you establish who you are by your emotional attachments to other

A thought by H. Norman Wright DMin. from his book, A Better Way to Think: Using Positive Thoughts to Change Your Life (p.44). Baker Publishing Group (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) It seems that daydreams, creativity, and potential go together. Norman says, “Do you dream by day? I do. In fact, some days, I do it a lot, especially when I’m in the process of crafting a book. Or as I prepare for a presentation, I go over the material in my mind, adding ideas as they come to me. Or as I anticipate a vacation or an encounter with someone, I imagine what might happen. “God gave us this wonderful gift—a twofold ability to see. We can visually observe what goes on around us. We also can ‘see’ pictures in our minds. The latter ability, especially, can help us achieve wonderful things… or that same imagination can hold us back when we use it in a negative way...” He goes on, “Our imaginations are busy with pictures and ideas all day long. It’

A thought by H. Norman Wright DMin. from his book, A Better Way to Think: Using Positive Thoughts to Change Your Life (p.36). Baker Publishing Group (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) Norman finishes the thought and then moves on.   He says, “It may be helpful to give your toxic self-talk a name, and then use that name when you recognize those thoughts. You might call them Pollution Words, Hopeless Words, The Critic, The Enemy, Satan’s Agent, The Liar. When we use a label like one of these, it helps us see these thoughts as occasional visitors, rather than permanent residents. It helps us remember that these visiting enemies don’t represent who we really are. “Consider what Peter McWilliams writes in You Can’t Afford the Luxury of a Negative Thought : “For many, negative thinking is a habit, which, over time, becomes an addiction. It’s a disease, like alcoholism, compulsive overeating, or drug abuse. “A lot of people suffer from this