and celebrate who you areChallenge Thinking

Every day you move forward with your mind

and your body shuffles along...

Every moment that you decide to be here with us

you are making an active choice to be a part of all of this

whatever this is

and every day you know just a little more than the day before

so you can move forward

and every day you get closer

to knowing more about

what it is that you want

which is something you don’t know about as much as you

would like

and that is the story of your experience

now you will not know what is coming next

and predictions about what is to come will only

get you so far

but you can be rest assured that

what is coming

will involve you

and will most certainly be

something you never could have imagined

thinking can make it feel as if you are in complete control

and thinking can also make it feel as if you have no control at all

excessive thinking can turn

into worry or

rumination

rumination can worsen and lead to stress and

anxietycc: porschelinn - https://www.flickr.com/photos/54144062@N03

Thinking is weird

we still only know very little about how the mind

works

now for the most part thinking is a normal

part of you

it is something that has always been with you

it is as if you have had your

own personal musician

following you around since you

were young

playing tunes

in the background of your experience

and thinking can be more debilitating

depending on what you are going through

and how you are feeling

you can try to bring your thinking under your control by force

but that is like trying to stop the flow of water from an exploding fire hydrant

thinking can even make it feel like you

are a prisoner of your own

reality

when this happens it

can feel like the world is

closing in on you

cc: c@rljones - https://www.flickr.com/photos/17149966@N00

and it can feel like you

are losing control

cc: Giulia Bartra - https://www.flickr.com/photos/10710862@N06

it is like that slipping feeling

you get from missing a step

cc: sogesehen. - https://www.flickr.com/photos/41942132@N00

some times those

feelings can really stay with

youcc: F. Montino - https://www.flickr.com/photos/66475767@N00

that's not a head space

that anyone

wants to be in

cc: hermitsmoores - https://www.flickr.com/photos/35137530@N00

especially not you!

cc: Juliana Coutinho - https://www.flickr.com/photos/10217810@N05

one way you can guard against excessive

thinking and worry is to practice mindfulness

mindfulness is about living every single

moment

as if it were a moment that you had a responsibility to be in...

mindfulness can help you to be more aware

of yourself

and help you in challenging negative

thoughts

so that your brain is not fried from stress

it is one thing to know about the benefits of mindfulness

it can be quite another thing to actually practice

it in your day to day

this is because sometimes you can get really stuck in negative thinking patterns

your mind can become fixated on what is behind

you

or obsess over what is to come

excessive thinking

over what you cannot control can quickly get out of hand

or even turn into

something ugly

your experience of reality shifts based on

your perception

cc: drubuntu - https://www.flickr.com/photos/51980416@N03

thinking can shrink your perception

if you ruminate for long enough you may even start to anticipate negative outcomes

and it can feel like everything is out to get you

but you can challenge your thoughts

and escape negative thinking patterns you find yourself stuck in

It is necessary if you want to move forward

cc: ..Alba.. - https://www.flickr.com/photos/95948282@N00

and if you are suffering from mental illness

cc: Key Foster - https://www.flickr.com/photos/61411590@N03

it can be particularly difficult for you to challenge your

thoughts

but no one else can do

what you do

So please be kind to yourself

You must be your own champion

and do good things for yourself

cc: KzAkabueze - ONEin12 - https://www.flickr.com/photos/64524820@N00

whatever that may mean for you

You see

cc: Nathan O'Nions - https://www.flickr.com/photos/50523792@N03

You are an intricate pattern

cc: eriwst - https://www.flickr.com/photos/37977505@N00

like a dance of colors on the surface of a glass pane

in every moment you are a completely different pattern than in the moment previous

cc: Thomas Hawk - https://www.flickr.com/photos/51035555243@N01

literally your bodily organs, fluids and processes are in

a continual state of flux

and boy ; that mind of yours

is it ever moving

The only constant is

change

cc: Tim Geers - https://www.flickr.com/photos/47912915@N02

You have a great journey

ahead

and really you've only just started to get to the bottom

of this thing called life

Step forward with confidence

The time is now to

celebrate the unique

pattern that makes

you...well YOU