April 10, 2012
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{Thoughts}
Last Monday morning I dropped Nikki and Kendall off at my parents house while I went to work for the morning.
Nikki usually stays there on Monday morning, but this particular Monday Kendall had a stomach flu, so he stayed with Grandma as well. (How thankful I am for a Mom who is willing to babysit sick kids, because if you are a working Mom, you know how hard it can be to figure something out when a kid is not feeling well!)
In the short conversation that I had with my parents while dropping the kids off, my Dad said something that I have been thinking and thinking and thinking about.
He said this quote to me, which he had heard from someone else recently:
“Nothing can harm you but your own thoughts.”
At first I think if you would have seen inside of my mind it would have looked the way a dog looks when he is wondering what you are up to. Head cocked to one side…a quizzical expression on his face. That is how I felt.
Really?
Nothing can harm you but your own thoughts?
What if someone beat you up? Or raped you? Or stole from you?
Wouldn’t that be harming you?
But over the days I came to realize that, yes, that would be bodily harm, but if you choose to think about those things in a healthy way, they really wouldn’t be able to harm you long term or keep you down or depressed or discouraged.
I know it makes it sound too simple. I get that. But wow! How many times, just in the past week, when my thoughts were going down a wrong path, did I remind myself of this quote and make a conscious choice to turn my thoughts elsewhere? Before they could do any more harm.
And then…I ran into a friend at the gas station and we had the best gas station chit-chat that I think I have ever had. We stood there by the pumps, she with a gallon of milk in her hand and kids waiting in the car, and me putting gas into my van…and we went deep. We talked about heart stuff. In 10 minutes time we had covered many subjects and thoughts and ideas and I felt encouraged and uplifted and enlightened.
She is a person of such wisdom and I so enjoyed hearing her perspective. I loved that just that 10 minute chat at the gas station spoke to my heart and gave me so much to think about.
When, in the course of our conversation, I shared that quote with her she shared one kind of similar that she had heard.
It said something like “Your circumstances cannot harm you. Only the way you think about your circumstances can cause you harm.”
And, she went on to share about how a little while ago she just had one of those epiphanies that we all have from time to time.
Something so simple, yet so profound when you really grasp it.
She said that she noticed how there are happy people at every age and stage of their lives. Whether teenager or young Mother or middle-aged or elderly.
There are also people from every age and stage of life who are unhappy and depressed.
And what do they have in common? All of those happy people?
It is not financial status or people who surround them or even that their life has gone so well for them.
It is, she said, about what they CHOOSE to focus on.
I believe that to be true and to be profound.
So…think about it.
Do you agree that “nothing can harm you but your own thoughts?”
Give it some time to sink in and marinate in your brain. I think you will find it is closer to the truth than you may have originally thought.
At least, that is what is happening in my heart and mind.
I will leave you with one last quote:
“We are shaped by our thoughts. We become what we think. When the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow that never leaves.”
Comments (12)
Oh Audrey!!! I Love, LOVE this post. It is just what I needed to hear today.
How timely too…my friend and I just had this discussion a couple of days ago. She was saying how she gets upset because of how she lets her thoughts get to her. As women, it is so easy to over-think and then we end up stressing ourselves out over what is usually nothing. (or at least nothing major or life changing)
I think in certain situations it is harder to not let circumstances have an effect on us.
However, we do have to practice self control…How we respond to others, our attitudes…etc.
When we stand before God, we will be held accountable for every word spoken AND every thought.
If I ponder on that verse…it usually sobers up any bad thoughts I’m having. =)
Thanks for sharing this.
Happy Tuesday.
Those are some great thoughts and quotes! The more I think about my thoughts and where they take me, I think there’s some wisdom in those quotes. A really good reminder for me to only think on those things that are pleasing to God.
i have been thinking about this post alot. not sure what to say…
i keep coming back to read this, and the comments. Yet another great post in a series of great posts. You seem to be on a roll lately
I never thot about this this way before. I truly feel like what a person can do is totally dependant on their thots/mindset. it’s amazing what a person can accomplish when they decide they can or want to, do it. So i would prly agree with what you say here, altho, like i said, I never thot about it like this before, it requires a bit of ‘chewing’ in the brain
i like this…. definitely good food for thought!
The mental image of you and your friend having the powerful gas station chat gave me my smile for the day. It wasn’t a humored smile, but a I’m-so-happy-for-her smile. The last quote is my favorite–especially this, “When the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow that never leaves.”
I think the quotes are true. But it’s scary to believe them because we have to let go of blame.
I battle depression. And how well I realize the truth of “it’s all in the head”. Because it really is. But getting that mind switched around to the mind of Christ is the work of a lifetime.
@quiet_hearts - I just wanted to make something clear and I should have clarified it earlier in my post…when I said about people being “unhappy and depressed” I was not talking about when people struggle with depression. I do not think that is “all in your head” necessarily, as it can also be hormonal imbalances or physical issues. And I think you need to deal with that in the best way possible, and I think the issues with your thoughts can still apply, but please understand that I was not coming across as if someone who struggles with depression just needs to think differently as the sole solution. But you have also met people, I am sure, who do not struggle with depression, but they are almost always negative about everything. They see the bad side and choose to focus on that. Anyway, just wanted to be understood here. I never want to give the impression that I take depression lightly or that I think you just can “fix it” by doing something differently.
Oh Aug. No worries. I wasn’t feeling attacked at all. (Are you and I going to have ongoing misunderstandings now??
) I think the place of thoughts in our lives is so huge and often underrated and I really appreciated this post. But I agree with what you said in your comment too. I wish there WAS some easy fix for some of the stuff I’m facing right now. But that is the hard part. Just not knowing what avenues to take and whether the problems are physical, emotional, or spiritual. Thanks for clarifying yourself. I really don’t want to be a poor soul that you have to tread carefully around. And trying to clarify what you meant by your reference to depressing people would have detracted from what you were trying to say here.
well. at first i was going to put that i didn’t think our thoughts were the ONLY thing that could harm us. but as i started writing that out, and thinking of even situations where you would be totally blindsided by someone.. something that left you devastated. even something as horrific as rape or some kind of physical harm~ still. even in all that. at the end of the day we’re left with.. OUR THOUGHTS. and how we process that hurt.
so. i don’t know. now i’m thinking your dad is right that our thoughts really ARE the only thing that can hurt us. hmmm. wow. writing it out that way seems so simply. so unimportant. when reality is, it’s HUGE! because if that’s true.. as goes our thoughts, so goes our life, right?
i know times when i’m struggling w/ something shayne will often remind me it’s not enough to recognize the lie. to try to take thoughts captive – - you have to renew your mind with truth! that’s the part i always fail at. the renewing part. it’s like even while TRYING to think on truth.. instead i find my mind wandering and before i know it i’m all tangled up in the lies again.
good post! good reminder that the battlefield IS the mind and realize the importance of time in His Word.. filling my head with HIS thoughts!!
@grace_to_be - I love your comment. I did a little of the same thing when I first read this.
Like I was thinking up situations where it wouldn’t be true, but like you concluded…it kind of is! 
@twofus_1 - hi.
i was JUST thinking of you tonight. miss you…