| Wisdom is the QUALITY of having experience, knowledge, and good judgment. It’s also knowledge and the capacity to make good use of it. Maya Angelou said, “When we know better, we do better.” That’s WISDOM. But when we know better and don’t do, that’s just being a container holder for information – it barely qualifies as knowledge! Wisdom lifts knowledge to the place of perspective and sound judgment. BUT – you can become knowledgeable without becoming WISE. Proverbs 4:6 says, “Do not forsake wisdom. She will protect you. Love her, and she will watch over you. Wisdom is supreme. Therefore, get wisdom.” CHOKMA is the Hebrew word for wisdom, and it means BOTH divine and human. All of this tells us (in my opinion) two things: 1. Wisdom (divine and human) is attainable. (Proverbs 3:6 says He will direct our paths.) 2. We are DIRECTED to seek it out. (Seek and ye shall find … ) So if we are Mountain-Out-Of-Molehill-Makers, we’ve left wisdom behind because we’ve stopped the seeking and relied instead on our own skewed perspective. How can we stop the habit of catastrophizing and instead seek the path of wisdom? There are FIVE things that will help: 1. Stop exaggerating and instead, be specific – even when you’re just kidding or being sarcastic. Your brain doesn’t have a sense of humor or understand irony – words matter! All-or-nothing thinking will hold your life captive with nothing to salvage. 2. Gratitude is a practice that will change your brain – literally. Dopamine and serotonin are immediate mood enhancers and shifters of negativity. 3. Sleep is clean-up-your-brain time. Your brain accumulates metabolic toxins daily, including plaque that leads to dementia. One of the biggest predictors of this disease is sleep quality. Inflamed thinking comes from an inflamed brain. 4. Thoughts don’t define you – we all go rogue and get negative sometimes, even eternal optimists. Thoughts are thoughts – you can choose to let them go. Observe them as someone else, and maybe unplug from them and do a little analysis. (Use the thought ladder we spoke about a few weeks back!) |
| 5. The Past doesn’t predict the future. The hopelessness of catastrophizing assumes that because things have always been a certain way, that’s all there is – NO! This is Learned Helplessness, and it will erode your life to crumbs. Instead, shift your thoughts and ask yourself questions like “What if … Can you imagine … ?” And visualize a positive outcome. 6. Move your BUTT! Walk, jog, run, cook, craft, do yoga, lift weights, garden, take a bath – don’t just sit! These activities ALIGN you with how Mindfulness CRUSHES Catastrophizing! |