the war on our minds

We are bombarded on all sides by the media, family and friends, co-workers and even enemies. They all have a certain identity that they want to assign to us. We have a choice. No one makes us feel inferior without our permission. We will become what we allow our heart and mind to dwell on. An old saying says it well. "You can't keep a bird from flying over your head but you can keep it from building a nest in your hair." In other words, it is impossible to avoid destructive thinking entirely. We will be tempted. We will have negative thoughts and temptations, but we do not have to allow them to dwell in our mind. God has given us a "garbage disposal" for the mind. [Source]


Avoid dwelling on thoughts that hurt the very core of you. I've been battling lately with thoughts about "what if" or "I should've done this or that". We must accept the choices we made and the words that were said. If you said words to hurt someone else, then as quickly as possible go to that person and apologize genuinely. Maybe sometimes we don't feel like we want to forgive, but do it anyways because God calls us to do that and he'll restore you in time. Time keeps going and i've found myself praying over and over about feeling better, happier and inspired. So many things i have to do for college, my responsibilities at church and home, and being with my friends are constant reminders for me to sit in a corner and cry because i can't perfectly juggle them all. But God wants us to let perfection go. Someone once said that perfection is for heaven. However God does encourage us to do our best any way possible. Im doing my best to handle things, and if there are things out of my control, i pray to Him to take control over them. This way, my mind doesn't clutter with pessimism and worry. As Philippians 4:8 says, "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things."

[Pictures: here & here]