Relationship Builder: 30 Second Rule by Ron Carpenter

Came across this article on Ron Carpenter's site...deals with our thoughts and how they effect our emotions/attitudes. I thought it was pretty interesting...Check it out and tell us what you think!

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It’s a proven, scientific fact that when any thought enters your mind, you have approximately 30 seconds to deal with it and make a decision before your feelings set in.

Your mind is given the job of deciding the battle between you and your thoughts. It’s up to your mind to control your ideas and imagination and make a decision as to where they’ll go next.

Here’s the danger: After your 30 seconds are up, your emotions kick in and develop a relationship with the thought. You become emotionally invested, and that’s when it starts getting complicated.

The Bible says to “take every thought captive.” Confine it in your mind, hold it hostage, and make a verdict before it goes anywhere else. Seize the thought and ask yourself, “Where did this come from?” If your answer is that it is not a Godly thought, then you have a decision to make: Get rid of it and move your mind to the next thing, or allow it to live.

If you dwell on the thought too long, you’ll no longer be battling the thought but you will be wrestling your feelings, and emotions are a lot stronger than we believe. They create a cycle, because those feelings hold you there and make you think more thoughts, and then those new thoughts bring more intense feelings. The danger is this: The more you become invested, the greater the desperation comes for you to find that answer. And the greater the anxiety, the greater you look to find a way to numb that feeling.

So now you’ve got these overwhelming, overpowering feelings and you’ve got to dispose of them but you can’t, and you become desperate to find a way to numb their effect and soon you find yourself doing things you know you never should do and saying things you don’t want to say.

So many people spend their entire life in this cycle, constantly trying to numb the pain of a feeling that, had they taken that first thought captive and said “You don’t belong here,” would never have had a chance to live.

You’ve got 30 seconds to deal with it. Your thoughts can put in you the worst mood or the best mood; can make yourself the happiest person no matter the condition of your surroundings or hell to live with.

Your feelings aren’t coming from your surroundings; they’re coming directly from your thoughts. Learn to control your thoughts before your emotions get in the way and begin leading you.