DESTRUCTIVE THOUGHTS are Like Snakes

Destructive thoughts slither around our thought garden and steal our joy. These thoughts are  dark, dangerous, and dubious. They have to do with who we think we are,  how we think we have performed, or what bad things are coming our way because of our deficits.

These snakes begin to crawl all around us, until all we see are the snakes.  They hiss and curl around our ankles and threaten to bite us, sometimes actually inflicting wounds that fester and will not heal.

Snakes can cause us to develop habits because of our focus on them.  We see the snakes as never disappearing, so we begin to incorporate them into our lives.  They take over. We become so fearful we cannot see life without them.  We get used to them, learn to tip toe around them and AVOID them as best we can.  But that only stirs them up again to bite us once again and steal our joy. 

How Do We Get Rid of SNAKES?

We have to first recognize them for what they are: DESTRUCTIVE!  We have to actually look around us and see that there is so much more to life than the snakes!  There might just be joy that can kill the snakes if we can begin to replace them with new positive, true thoughts.

By practicing affirmations and Truth about who we really are (even if we FEEL like they are not true), we will begin to slowly run those nasty little guys off.  We have to really be diligent for a long while to get rid of them all because they like to slither back into our territory. You see they are creatures of habit.

If we find new creatures of habit who are TRUE and PRETTY and GOOD, we can teach ourselves to embrace them in our thought garden.  This can in turn affect our lives and we can teach these new beautiful creatures to stay around.  What Are These Creatures? 

HEALTHY THOUGHTS are Like Butterflies!

BUTTERFLIES come from a really difficult birth. They start from a funky little caterpillar that has to crawl and wrap itself up in a cocoon, then percolate for a while before coming out into the world.  These caterpillars stay wrapped up and do not appear to even be alive…..until one day they begin to wiggle and jiggle around in their cocoon, becoming stronger and stronger as they do.  A beautiful thing happens….this in-between creature breaks through the cocoon, after a process of METAMORPHOSIS, completely transforming the caterpillar into a lovely and strong BUTTERFLY that is able to fly!  BREAKING FREE from the ties that bind!

BUTTERFLIES are NEW THOUGHTS that you replace where the snakes have been.  You have to take action to change your thoughts.  It takes practice and more practice, much like the caterpillar coming out of the cocoon.  It does not LOOK or FEEL like a butterfly, but it is, if you keep believing it is TRUE.

TO GET RID OF SNAKES YOU NEED BUTTERFLIES!

TO BECOME A BUTTERFLY

YOU HAVE TO GET OUT OF THE COCOON!

After Destructive thoughts are changed into Healthy thoughts, THEN the FEELINGS come.  In the meantime, ACT AS IF you believe that you have butterflies.  ACT AS IF the snakes are not there and that the butterflies are coming!  ACT AS IF butterflies are flying all around you.  ACT AS IF your life revolves around the butterflies.  ACT AS IF you believe in butterflies.  Practice Practice Practice and DO NOT GIVE UP.  The metamorphosis will come soon and what does not look like a butterfly WILL BE A BUTTERFLY!

Your thoughts will be changed! You will feel and live life with butterflies all around!

How the Our Thought Life Works

CORE BELIEFS

What we believe down deep about ourselves.

Truth (beautiful and freeing butterfly) VS Lies (hissing and biting snake)

Create Thoughts

Affirming   vs   Critical

Create Feelings

Positive  vs   Negative

Create Behavior

 Healthy   vs   Destructive

         Changing Your Snakes to Butterflies Creates a Healthier Thought Garden!

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Author: Susan S. Miller, PhD, LPCS, NCC for Lighted Path™ Coaching