Unsupervised Thoughts Create Our Results

Early this morning, as I was running, my thoughts were interrupted by a continuous horn. I looked ahead and saw a white truck doing a U-turn in front of a stop sign. By doing this, the driver was obstructing a red car, that was at the stop sign, from turning right. The red car laid on the horn continuously as the truck finished its U-turn, then followed it closely down the street for a couple of blocks its horn blaring the entire time. The irony struck me as so funny.

Who knows what they were really thinking. Maybe they were friends and they like to do this ritual every morning. Most likely, though, the person in the red car probably thought the person in the white truck was so inconsiderate and stupid for doing a U-turn in that spot making the person in the red car wait a little bit while they got on their way. This thought probably led to annoyance and frustration, which led to their action of being inconsiderate of everyone else in the neighbourhood by honking their horn continuously for a few minutes in the early hours of the morning.

This is what happens when we don’t supervise our brain. We become exactly what we don’t like. Notice this happening in your own life. We all do it. And when you really think about it, it’s kind of funny. It’s especially funny when you do it with your kids. “DON’T YELL AT ME!”

If you have this happening over and over in a certain situation, stop and think about how you want that situation to go next time. For example, when my 4 year old throws a tantrum, I would get in a bad mood for hours and want to just escape from my kids, throwing my own little tantrum. After he was done his consequence, I was still be mad at him and have a hard time being nice. I was tired of this happening so often, and decided to change how all of this played out. Now when he throws a tantrum I say to myself, “He can be mad, and I don’t have to be mad. He can throw a tantrum, and I don’t have to throw a tantrum.” It’s so nice to send him to his room, and then welcome him back when he’s ready to talk nicely, and move on. I don’t continue to snap at him, or speak unkindly. I just love him, and enjoy the time I get to be with him.

Where are you running into the same dynamic every time? What thoughts will help you react differently next time?