Mood

From where does your mind receive its guidance?

Stop for a second and actually allow yourself to think about it...

Who is it that tells you what to do or how to feel?

Given that it is only you that can actually make you take a particular action, why would thoughts of misery or bitterness be what we choose to think about? Why do we feed our brains in this way? How can we feel as if we are unable to stop our own thoughts? The reality is, it happens.

Even though it does not feel like it, at times we are unconsciously choosing to remain stuck, spiral in negative thoughts or act out of unpleasant emotions. Our mood has become what we blame our actions on, but where did the thoughts that contributed to our mood come from? Pause. Allow yourself to honestly think about it...

Who told you to continuously think about that mistake you made earlier? Why do you keep reminding yourself about what you do not have or what mean thing they said yesterday? How does hurting them help you? The reality is, it doesn't. Fixating on our interactions is how we influence our mood. What we pay attention to is where our energy goes, our energy then colors our mood.

Try seeing our mood as an invisible expression of our thoughts and feelings at a specific moment in time. It takes focused mental effort and practice, but if we are mindful and pay attention to what we allow ourselves to think about we can support a shift in our mood to our liking.

From depression and anxiety to gratitude and calm, the way we think is how we become. Understanding that our thoughts, emotions and mood are intimately intertwined can be a real life superpower if we choose to translate our understanding into action. Whatever it is that we are thinking creates an underlying emotional reaction within us. Our brain is impacted by our thoughts so our inner conversations with self play a major role in our mood. Being aware of where our mind's guidance is coming from puts us in the driver's seat of our lives. It brings clarity to navigating our existence. It gives us a voice and reminds us that we have a choice.

We can choose to be conscious and pay attention to what we say and how we treat ourselves or we can choose not to. Activating our choice is the superpower we need in the intricate dance of mood, thoughts and emotion.

It just takes being insistent, consistent and persistent.

Mood - in a state of mind to be willing

(to do or not do something)

*Please note that this is by no means a substitute for an evaluation by a medical or mental health professional.