What are you thinking?

Have you ever made a mistake, and had someone look at you in disappointment and say, "What on earth were you thinking?"

Sometimes I have to agree with them, and I think, "What was I thinking?"

This morning I was listening in to a call with Robert G. Allen, the millionaire who is most famous for his book, Nothing Down. He was speaking about the things we think about - specifically what we ask ourselves. He proposed that the way we ask ourselves questions affects deeply the way we behave and the way we see the world.

For instance, have you found yourself asking, "Why did this have to happen?" "What did I do to deserve this?" "Will bad things ever stop happening to me?" "Why is life so hard?"

Mr. Allen contends that those questions lead nowhere. Some are unanswerable ("Why did this have to happen?";) others only lead to debilitating thoughts and attitudes ("Why is life so hard?")


The truth is, life is all about problems. Times without problems are scarce. Jenkins Lloyd Jones said the following:

“Life is like an old-time rail journey—delays, sidetracks, smoke, dust, cinders and jolts, interspersed only occasionally by beautiful vistas and thrilling bursts of speed.
“The trick is to thank the Lord for letting you have the ride.”1


I think he is right. The 'beautiful vistas and thrilling bursts of speed' are unfortunately very rare. We are unrealistic if we seek that carefree, 'happily-ever-after' life that we heard about in the fairy tales.

So, if life is about problems and learning to solve them, what kind of questions should we be allowing ourselves to ask?

I have found that the most helpful question I can ask when I begin to feel overwhelmed, discouraged, or fearful is, "What can I learn from this?" Often, to be able to face life and the challenges I am dealing with, I have to break life down into tiny increments, and then my question is, "What is the very best use of the next fifteen minutes?"

Many times, it is a nap! I call them 'power naps', because they are short - fifteen to thirty minutes long - but they renew my energy and give me the power to move ahead for a few more hours. After a power nap, my outlook is always brighter, and I can ask the positive questions more easily.

In their book Killing Sacred Cows, Garret B. Gunderson and Stephen Palmer ask:

"How do we find freedom on a day-to-day basis? One powerful way is to ask yourself the right questions. Who is ultimately responsible for your prosperity? How can you overcome your fears?How can you be less selfish? What do you really want out of life? What do you have to give, that has not been given because of fear or other limiting factors? Who can you serve today? How can you increase your value to others?"

Can you see how those questions turn one's thoughts outward and upward? I know from my own experience that as soon as we begin asking ourselves these motivating questions, rather than debilitating ones, we are given strength to do something positive.

Richard Paul Evans, philanthropist and author of The Christmas Box suggests keeping an "idea journal" where we write the answers to these questions as we receive them. Some of his ideas have brought great prosperity; others have brought new life and sweetness to his relationships.

I am finding the same thing. As I ask the right questions, and record my answers, and begin to work on those answers, my outlook is becoming more positive. I am able to accept the fact that life can be hard, but my attitude can be positive no matter what I am going through.

What are you thinking? Perhaps beginning to ask more positive questions can be the beginning of a more optimistic chapter in your life, too. I pray it will be so!

-Roslyn