Replacing Negative Thoughts
Focusing on the negative in life creates a pessimistic attitude. Seeking the positive creates hope and optimism. ~ David Bishop, Love Recon
Have you ever been in a deep canyon where you could yell a message and the echoes would bounce off the walls of the canyon? Negative words and thoughts are like that.
Once a negative word is spoken, it is released to the universe and it will continue to echo throughout the canyon walls of your mind without control. You 
cannot quiet the volume, you cannot change the message, and you are now at the mercy of the echo.
Maybe you were told that you were stupid as a child, and later in life you caught yourself thinking, “It really doesn’t matter. I’m stupid anyway. No one takes me seriously.”
We have listened to these lies and listened to them as they echoed in our minds’ canyons and then we have begun to believe the lies. And because we have bought into or agreed with the lies, then we have become the person that they say we are. The negative echoes, the lies, now control our present and future.
How do we rid ourselves of such negative and harmful echoes? Just as if you were standing on the river in the canyon, you create a new echo. Once the new word is spoken it will drown out the fading echoes of the old message. Say the new positive message, the truth, long enough, and you will begin to believe it and the transformation will begin.
Positive affirmations are statements that are spoken and often repeated to encourage and uplift the person speaking them. In reality, a positive affirmation is actually the language of the brain.
3 Characteristics of Positive Affirmations:
- Positive affirmations are always present tense (“I am…” not “I will be…”)
- Positive affirmations only include positive words (strong, beautiful, capable, worthy, etc.)
- Positive affirmations are spoken statements of truth and fact (the opposite of the lie)
Finish the statements below:
- One negative echo or lie that plays in my head is…
- It has affected me and our relationship by…
- My positive affirmation (truth) is… (refer to the 3 Characteristics of Positive Affirmations)
TODAY’S CHALLENGE: Start the 10-second kiss rule. Either of you can call for a 10 second kiss, with no expectation of having sex. You won’t believe how long 10 seconds is… or how many endorphins are released in just 10 seconds!
Suggested Scripture: Philippians 4:8-9