Helpless Victim, or Home Brain Surgeon?

The one choice that makes all the difference

Hey my friend,

I pray this morning finds you well. We’re having a great week here in Nebraska, and are enjoying the gorgeous weather. I love the mornings right now, and the sunrises have been stunning.

I wrote the following letter in 2018, after a good friend lost a child to suicide. This morning, I felt like someone needed these words. So, here they are. Share them if you know someone who would benefit from reading.

---

This past week I was reminded again how important it is to get serious about improving our thought lives. Another family we care about has been touched by a suicide, which is the ultimate example of someone who isn't hearing the truth inside their own head.

Something I'm Pondering:

Last week, I wrote this to you: "Our thought life is the single most important determinant of how successful, happy, and fulfilled our lives will be. Our thought lives determine the quality of our relationships, the impact of our work, the influence we have over others, and even the outcome of our spiritual lives. In other words, how you think determines how you live."

The problem is, most of us never think about how we think. We just react to it, as if every thought that pops into our head is true and unchangeable.

Here's the truth: Your mood/emotional state sets the baseline of how you feel from moment to moment. And it is chemically determined by the levels of various neurotransmitters in your brain like dopamine, serotonin, norepinephrine, and others. And the types of thoughts you tend to think are tied to your current emotional state, derived from neurochemical levels.

The good news is, you're not a slave to those chemical levels. You can change them, and you can do it (usually) without taking antidepressants or other pills.

The chemistry of your brain responds dramatically to your thinking, and IS NOT static.

If you want to know more about this important fact, keep reading.