Do you know how to think?

One of the biggest challenges for me on my journey of healing and growing was learning how to think.

I can't remember how old I was when I heard about the book The Road Less Travelled by M. Scott Peck. I don’t think I even read it. But I do remember the first sentence was 'Life is difficult'.

It put me off. I already knew that life was difficult. What I wanted to know was how to make it easier.

I'm not negating the importance of acknowledging when you're finding things tough.

Or ignoring pain when you're feeling and experiencing it.

This is a crucial part of the process. You have to first feel what you're feeling. All of it.

But when you're trying to step out of that way of being, when you're ready to say 'something new please': this is the opportunity to learn how to think.

It pissed me off when I first read (or heard) that you can choose your thoughts.

Really, it was because it gave me too much responsibility for my life, and that 'tripped a switch' of pain for me at that time.

But eventually, the idea came back for another go. In order to experience life differently, I had to learn to think differently.

Like any change, it takes commitment, persistence, trust and a willingness to admit that you might be wrong about some things.

Because choosing your thoughts is a choice in itself. And one many, many people think they don't have.

That's not to say you don't have random thoughts come up. Unexpected ideas pop into your head.

It takes patience with yourself. It takes learning a new skill (in my opinion, mastering your thoughts is a brilliant skill). It takes practice. Over and over. It takes support.

My experience has been that I now don't suffer from the underlying, chronic anxiety that many people experience on a daily basis. It means I know how to switch my thoughts - in an instant - rather than face the negative spiral that people get lost in.

It means that when I wake up and I'm a bit scattered, or frustrated or gloomy, I can immediately put myself in the mindset I need to succeed. And that creates the focus and motivation for action. And movement is the only way to create lasting change.