Tweet

Thoughts: Our Greatest Addiction?!

Guest post by: Mary Allen

Article Overview: Thoughts don't require an external stimulus to be elicited, which means we can indulge in any thought repeatedly - at any time we choose. As human beings we experience and enjoy a VARIETY of emotions on a daily basis, yet we also innately seek FAMILIARITY...even if it's NOT positive. The emotions we experience consistently become a part of our comfort zones and our identities...as they are habitually conditioned into our lives. Until we get conscious about them we remain victims to these patterns.

Thoughts: Our Greatest Addiction?!

Thoughts - Our Greatest Addiction?!

Every thought we think creates a biochemical response in our bodies. These reactions vary from negligible to intense. Science has known this for some time. If we think about food, our saliva glands may be stimulated. When we think of the person that irritates us most, our bodies constrict and tense up. When we reflect upon our most fulfilling moments, endorphins are released in our bodies and we feel more relaxed and at peace. Every memory, whether positive or negative, elicits an internal physical response. When a sexual thought crosses our mind, well...you know what can happen biologically. But, I'll keep this article G-rated...you get the idea. With every thought, there is a bio-chemical response in our body.

The impact of the thought on our nervous systems ranges in intensity, according to the level of "emotion" associated with the thought. For example, reflecting on the death of a love one, is likely to create a deeper emotional response than remembering to buy toothpaste or noticing you stepped on an ant. The more intense the emotion, the greater the impact the thought has on the physical body and the more likely we may become addicted to it.

Thoughts don't require an external stimulus to be elicited, which means we can indulge in any thought repeatedly - at any time we choose.

As human beings we experience and enjoy a VARIETY of emotions on a daily basis, yet we also innately seek FAMILIARITY...even if it's NOT positive. The emotions we experience consistently become a part of our comfort zones and our identities...as they are habitually conditioned into our lives. Until we get conscious about them we remain victims to these patterns.

How CONSCIOUS are you in "choosing" your thoughts? How conscious are you of the emotional patterns that are running our lives? What thoughts and emotions are you addicted to? The quickest way to evaluate this for yourself is to take inventory by noticing the emotions you experience repeatedly throughout the week. These are the emotions your body has grown accustomed to experiencing...and unconsciously works to elicit.

Anger, stress, anxiety, fear, depression, sadness, overwhelm, frustration, guilt, and worry may be a few of the thought/emotional patterns to investigate more closely. Behind every emotion is a thought or set of thoughts. This is how they continue to be conditioned. If stress is a common pattern in your life, you may have thoughts such as, "_______needs to be accomplished before I can relax." Or, "I have too much to do." Or, "I can't get it all done." If depression is something you experience, something as basic as, "I feel depressed" may be the thought feeding the emotion. We may have one or multiple thoughts feeding an addictive pattern.

You may also experience a variety of positive or empowering emotions also. Love, joy, happiness, peace, excitement, pleasure, playfulness and a sense of purpose are a few. Investigating the thoughts associated with empowering emotions is useful because we can learn to strengthen and intensify these, which gives us more fulfillment, power, results and connection.

As we understand the nature of thought, and these unconscious addictions, we can begin to more CONSCIOUSLY strengthen thoughts that serve and empower us -- and reduce the impact of the thoughts and emotional patterns that are debilitating.

THE PAYOFF

One of the ways we can break addictions to thoughts and emotional patterns that don't serve us is to look at the "payoff". We continue to overwork an emotional muscle because at some level we subconsciously believe that it serves us in some way. A "payoff" is a perceived benefit we receive when we engage the emotional pattern.

We may use ANGER because we notice that people pay attention to us more closely with this intense emotion, thus connecting with us and our ideas more. We may connect to DEPRESSION because it may prevent us from failing if we try...or maybe it allows us to connect to others who share a similar story. We may enjoy STRESS or ANXIETY because we believe it's what drives our motivation and we fear we'd be less productive if we eliminated it. We may be addicted to GUILT because that means we care. We may wallow in thoughts of ROMANCE because it gives us hope.

Unfortunately, the benefit we subconsciously believe we're receiving, is generally NOT really giving us the FULL BENEFIT we desire. For example, with ANGER...are people REALLY paying more attention? Are they connecting with us and our ideas in the manner we truly desire? When we're STRESSED and ANXIOUS are we really MORE productive or less productive? Is GUILT, the most effective way to demonstrate that we care? Does DEPRESSION keep us safe from failing, or do we experience a greater sense of failure in the state of depression. With virtually EVERY dis-empowering emotion there is a false payoff we subconsciously connect to, and that keeps us locked unconsciously in this addictive pattern.

However, if we slow down and question this logically, we'll quickly see that the payoff isn't really giving us what we're seeking. When we do this, the mind has a way of releasing its grip on that thought. Thus, creating room for a new emotional and thought pattern that can serve us better.

SOULFUL Challenge: Increase your AWARENESS around the most dominant thoughts that you experience throughout your week. Pay close attention to the emotional patterns that aren't empowering you. Identify the thoughts or set of thoughts that are driving the emotion. See if you can find the subconscious "payoff" or benefit that allows you to indulge in this pattern, and see if it's REALLY giving you what you desire. You may experience the pattern diminishing or vanishing completely.

NEXT ISSUE...

Because the topic of THOUGHTS is a big one, this article will be continued in the next issue of Soulfully Living. The focus will be on "Transforming Your Thought Patterns". In the meantime, continue to expand your awareness of your addictive thought patterns. Notice the positive and negative aspects.

We can remain victims to these biochemical responses or we can we use this information to empower our lives more fully. The choice is always ours.

Related Articles
  Lessons that Ones Learn at Drug Rehab Center
  DRUG REHABILITATION & SUPPORT FOR ALL: Now A Reality
  Study Links Depression to Heavy Internet Use
  Look for Help from Drug Rehab Centers
  Don't Let Addictions Impact Your Success!
  Authentic Capitalism
  Rehab Centers Open Great Hope for All
  Healing Love and Approval Addiction
  Drug Rehab – for a Drug Free Life
  WORKAHOLISM – THE SCOURGE OF MANAGEMENT CONSULTING
  STOP! Don't Take Action
  Keys to Find Suitable Drug Treatment Center
  Addicted to Disaster
  How to Choose Best Drug Rehab Facility
  Taking the Drama out of Life by Keeping it Simple
  You're Addicted to Twitter If You..
  The Top 10 Limits to Liberation
  Marketing Strategies: Are You Sharpening Your Saw?
  How Self-Esteem Issues Show Up
  PRESCRIPTION DRUG ABUSE

Article Tags: addiction, awareness, biochemical response, cognition, comfort zones, conscious, control, emotions, thoughts



Related Forum Posts
Re: American Idol meets venture capital seeks innovative technol - That's a very facsinating concept. Has anyone else checked out the Hatchery website? Thoughts?
Re: Thank you for the review, Evan. - [quote="Evan":2u4a2etk]Hi Jason - yes, that's a great start. Think about the people you LOVE working with most and have the greatest impact on and target your messaging towards them.[/quote:2u4a2etk] Thanks, Evan! I definitely take that to heart. I gave it some though and I *love* working with game-changing, visionary, prestige-focused leaders & celebrities, and feel my talents are best used in that arena. Thoughts?
The composition of the Board saga continues .... - Hi Folks, You folks have been of much help, both in your specific answers and by offering an opportunity to "think out loud". Following on from our earlier discussion, the planned number of minority shareholders is now in the 5 - 10 range who together ought not to share more than 25% of the equity of this agri-business. Having said that, my questions are: 1) How to structure the board so as to minimize the 'miserable/hinder' effect outlined by Garth - what kinds of expertise might I be seeking? 2) Thoughts on coralling them? 3) Any other thoughts on things my client should be looking out for .... I look forward to the opportunity to 'pay back' this forum for the help I've received. Thank you. Terry
Re: New service similar to ZocDoc - Hello, Many of the schools might have a "website" but there is no functionality to actually have a live updated calendar for potential customers to actually book lessons. With them not having this feature many times the potential would move on to another site for options, vs booking instantly. This site will allow them to reach out to potentials that might never find their site and if they did find their site offer a chance to book appointments right on the spot. For a small fee per month and the opportunity to get a potential w numerous lessons as a repeat customer that is excellent ROI. I am looking at this as a way to help grow small biz with very little out of pocket expense from the schools. Thoughts?
New service similar to ZocDoc - I am thinking about starting a business with the scope being something to zocdoc but within the sports industry. The idea would be to find a specific sport academy that offers lessons for a specific sport and make the availability to book the appointment online. The academy will have background on their instructions and qualifications. We will have google maps that shows the direct location of the academy and an updated calendar for the user to pick their desired time. Once an appointment is made on the site a notification is sent directly to the academy then which they will contact the user for next steps. Users can register for free and the academies pay a monthly fee to be listed on the site. Thoughts on this idea?


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Having It All... With No Sleep

Web Design in 30 Minutes - Can this be Right?

ROSI Return on SUNK Investment

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.