I don’t know about you but I have days in which this crazy mind acts like it wants to focus on my negative list instead of my positive list no matter what I do. Does anyone else do that? I’ll be saying, “Suck it up buttercup” while my brain is saying, “Yeah, but don’t forget what so and so said that hurt your feelings” or “Yeah, but don’t you remember you’re worried about your child?” or “Yeah, but you have that huge bill due next week, whadda ya gonna do about it?”

I’ve often envisioned these thoughts as rocks. I’ve been through stages in the last few years where I felt I was floating along in a lifeboat trying to survive, and the negative, the worries, the bad thoughts are rocks that someone has put in there with me. They’re weighing down the boat and causing it to sink. Some of those days I’d start to panic because I felt my boat was really sinking. To this day, I have to work hard on seeing myself picking up each rock one by one and tossing it overboard and now I try to see God cheering me on, “Yay, child, let it go! Sink those rocks! You got this!”. As each one goes into the water, the boat gets lighter, until eventually, it’s floating along freely and the sun starts to shine and reflect on the water, and I am free. I may have to do it again the next day but for that moment, that day, I am free.

This may sound like a simple visual to some but I’m kind of a simple minded girl. At some of my darkest days, this is what I’ve had to do, and being real, I still do it more often than I care to admit. Now, however, I try to replace each rock with a positive thought. I picture them as flowers picked along the river bank, filling the boat. They’re weightless, beautiful, smell good, and make us smile. I want more of those.

Today, my prayer for you is to have a lifeboat free of rocks, the strength to throw overboard the ones you need to let go of, and that you find bouquets of positive thoughts to surround you every moment!

Thank you for taking a moment to read my crazy thoughts, to share with anyone you think might need it, and for just being here. I love you and bye for now!

Tracey