Refurbish the Mind
Having made the decision to change the way you think, half the battle has been fought and won. To see it through though you need perseverance, a great quality to have when you are overcoming negative self-talk. It’s important at this point that you don’t tell anyone what you’re doing because the naysayers will have you flying the flag of surrender before you even begin. Keep it to yourself for the time being and make a commitment to yourself to keep doing the daily exercise included in this book.
Before we begin I would like you to join me in a short prayer:
Holy angels, I thank you for being present to me.
Holy Angels, I thank you for your loving help and loyalty.
Just as you persevere in helping me because you love me,
I too am persevering in loving myself. I see the value of
who I am as a child of God and choose to change my
negative thinking into that way of thinking which sets me free.
I truly believe you are helping me do this, and it is so.
Be assured, your angels will help you focus on changing your thought life for the better and for the rest of your life. If ever you doubt this, return to this prayer, and always say it meaningfully. Say it with a deep sense of belief, for we breathe our thoughts into reality if we believe enough. Self-doubt is a niggly that’s waiting for a chance, so swipe it aside before a war begins with your mind.
The Mental Cleansing and Refurbishment Exercise
My advice to those of you seeking to cleanse your thinking life is to read this entire book before commencing the daily practice of the exercise I have outlined in this chapter. This is to ensure you understand the whole process and don’t start half-cocked, otherwise, you may end up discouraged and not see it through. Reading the entire book will also ensure you understand more fully what you are doing and how you will benefit from it. Likewise, a better understanding will help you obtain the maximum effects.
When I was putting pen to paper, I was initially unsure what to call this daily exercise. However, the angels helped me out. While I was meditating the angels showed me the rooms of a house in which they were dusting and cleaning. After this they began moving the furniture around. That which was worn and unable to be repaired, they tossed into a skip outside. New furniture appeared as if by magic, lavish and eye-catching.
The image shown me was very apt and I decided to call the exercise The Mental Cleansing and Refurbishment Exercise. That’s what I love about the angels. I’m sure they wanted this book written, and this is an instance of the help they gave me while I was doing so.
This mental cleansing exercise is to be practiced daily. And it’s only fair to the discipline of neuroscience, at this point, to mention that it’s by putting into action some of its principles that make this exercise so beneficial to the way we think. Additionally, science meets spirituality in this exercise which shows how they can work together without necessarily being opposed.
Firstly, though, I’d like to consider two points about the thinking process. Our brain, the organ we use to think and decide, a process which influences our behaviour and actions, stores thoughts physically. Yes, you heard me correctly. Our thoughts are made up of proteins situated inside our brains. Repeated thoughts of the same kind build up these proteins into thought patterns.{i}
If a thought is unhealthy it can be dissolved and removed over the course of three weeks. How? By reflecting on how it’s negatively affecting us, writing about this and what needs to be changed in our thinking. At the same time the unhealthy thought is fading, the new healthy thought is replacing it and growing in the brain (proteins again). Repeated use of the positive thinking that has developed will, after a certain period of time, merge the thought with the subconscious so as this thinking happens automatically. After ridding yourself of a particular thought pattern, spend as long as another two months in practicing this new healthy way of thinking. Being thorough, means lasting success.{ii}
Praying with our angels helps us achieve this in a deeper way as they guide us through the process. They can give us the hunch, the idea, the feeling concerning what we need to work on, and also how to change a thought pattern. They encourage us in this change, help us alter the direction of our thinking to what is good, noble and healthy. We only have to ask for their help and respond to it. And if you’re not sure, you do your best. You’ll find in time any uncertainty becomes unstuck, smoothed out at the right time.
The Mental Cleansing and Refurbishment Exercise is a three week cycle for each thought pattern needing to be changed. It unearths the negative thought being worked on while simultaneously building a healthy thought in its place. This can be completed in 10-15 minutes a day once you’re used to the practice, but I prefer to spend a good half hour. You can do this exercise at any time of the day or night, but you’re best to stick to the same time once you have established that routine. I like to do the exercise in the morning as I find it helps prepare me for the day.
Week 1 of the Exercise
Use a dairy of some sort when doing this exercise. It’s a way to help you own the process, the wonderful changes you’re making in your thinking, and gives a sense of pride and achievement. Likewise, you can look back on what you wrote previously. This helps you to reflect on the issues arising, the changes taking place in your thinking, or it can help you see what aspects of the thought still need to be worked on.
FIRST THINGS FIRST: Each day sit with a lit candle and offer this time to God and his angels. Close your eyes and thank your angels for being present to you and guiding you through this process. On the first day of the three week cycle ask the angels in the quiet of your heart which negative thought you should work on first. Don’t worry if nothing pops into your head. That’s okay – just pick one you know causes you bother in your daily life or in your relationships. Perhaps you could pick one around fear or one which causes you to feel resentful. We’re all afraid of something or someone, and resentment is another common niggly too.
The thought doesn’t have to be verbatim as the wording can change in our interior dialogue from one day to the next. That’s what can make a specific thought difficult to pin down and they can hide in a sea of other related thoughts and nuances. Thus, the resulting thought to be worked on may emerge more as a ‘theme’. Instead of ‘I’m always getting sick’ (a verbatim thought) which you know to be exaggerated or untrue, it could come to you as the notion of having unnecessary health concerns. You can then personalise it by saying, ‘I have unnecessary health concerns’. This provides or represents the unhealthy thought to be eradicated. Regardless, try to be as specific as you can and stay focused. The angels will help you do this if you ask them.
While doing this, take your time and don’t judge yourself. This futile thinking will only cause you to feel guilty and bad about yourself. Instead, rejoice! You’re about to be set free of a tiresome, bothersome, toxic thought which has plagued you for weeks, months, or years. With a little time and effort, the ghost will be made homeless and a new and health lodger will take its place.
If you don’t feel the angels have revealed a negative thought to you, which one stands out the most? Which one comes to mind that you know causes you the most upset or worry? Just focussing on this can be the way the angels point out what needs addressing. After that, if you still find one hasn’t come to you, then it’s okay to go ahead and pick one. Perhaps the angels want you to use your initiative more.
Once a negative thought has been revealed or picked, make the decision this is the negative thought you’re going to work on and eradicate from your life over the next three weeks. Neuroscientists believe it takes this long to melt away an unhealthy thought. Just imagine all that negative protein stuff dissolving in your mind, being swept away by the electromagnetic activity of your brain. If you ask me, the fact this can happen is, in itself, a miracle!{iii}
Every day of week 1, talk to the angels about this unhealthy thought. Ask them how it has affected you in your life. Reflect on this with their help. Here are some questions to ask yourself and your angels which will help you do just that:
Ask these questions of yourself and the angels slowly, and pause for several seconds before asking the next one. It’s amazing what can come up and in what direction the angels can take you. You are embarking here on an exciting journey of self-discovery. Be enthusiastic about the process.
It may seem a bit repetitive to ask the same questions each day but our mental state and levels of awareness varies from day to day. Some days we concentrate better. Other days we’re more focused and less distracted. Conversely, we could be tired, agitated, upset.
However, if you want, you can divide the questions up and pick a few questions to reflect on each day of the first week. Additionally, once you’re used to doing this exercise, feel free to add more questions on which to reflect. But initially, stick with the questions provided.
The marvellous thing about all this is we can change a thought by bringing it into our conscious mind. It becomes what neuroscience calls malleable, pliable. This means the way we think can be changed. Nothing is written in stone. Once the toxic thought is jettisoned, the healthy thought we have simultaneously been building on over the three weeks has replaced the negative. Again, be aware to use your new, healthy way of thinking as often as you remember until it sinks into the subconscious after another two months. Afterwards, this new way of thinking becomes automatic.{iv}
WRITE DOWN YOUR THOUGHTS, IMPRESSIONS, ANSWERS: Take a moment to help process what you’re thinking and then write down what comes to mind in your diary. You don’t need to write too much. You have twenty-one days to paint the picture. Write what’s meaningful and only in relation to what’s related to the toxic thought. Don’t get side tracked.
Talking with the angels can help you stay focused. Ask them to reveal the truth to you, to help you to be honest with yourself. You can do this without any qualms. After all, it’s only you who’ll be looking at what you wrote.
While reflecting on the negative has you appreciating its effect on you, writing it down makes it more real. It also helps you focus on what you will be removing from your brain and mind, AND what you will replace it with. Nature and super-nature abhor a vacuum. You must replace the toxic thought with a healthy one. That’s why some questions you think on are concerned with being free of the toxic thought. This provides hope: you can think differently and with lasting effects.
Remember, God has blessed us with a mind. It’s our mind that’s spiritual, the seat of our personality, our soul. Thus, it’s our mind that controls our brain; not the other way round. And this is marvellous. It means our genes and DNA are not written in stone. They can be altered to benefit us. This daily exercise is one such way of doing this, especially if Heaven is involved in the process. So ask the holy angels for help at each step of the exercise.
TAKE A PEAK: Now, have a look over what you’ve written and ask the angels to help you make sense of it. Sometimes, you’ll notice this happens fairly naturally; other times you’ll find you have to be more disciplined. Each day is different. The important thing is you stay focused and try. The angels will do the rest if you invite them into the process.
I’ve noticed that certain negative thoughts being dealt with can invoke confusion, uncertainty and sadness – even anger. Don’t worry if this happens. Give yourself a hug and imagine your angels are doing the same to you, comforting you. This is a good thing; it means the mental cleansing is working deeply and is involving the healing of memories.
Conversely, there will be days when you’re full of joy and excitement as you feel yourself being set free from your toxic thinking. And it truly is a wonderful feeling when you experience God setting you free with the help of his angels. This is a big part of walking with God: jettisoning the negative and adopting the healthy and positive. In other words, being open to changing and becoming more like Him. What a liberating feeling, and God and His angels rejoice with us as we undertake this practice and move forward!
AFFIRMATION: An important part of the exercise is finding an affirmation you can use throughout the day. Look over what you’ve written to help you devise an affirmation ( positive thought) for the day . Angels are great at helping us pick affirmations and they’ll help you keep them simple and to the point. So ask them to help you do this. When you have one, say the affirmation as many times as you can during the day, and say it meaningfully like you would a prayer. It’s the focusing and meaningfulness that’s important.
As you do this each day over the three weeks it helps the healthy thought pattern to take root. If you find it difficult to devise an affirmation, you can always google ‘positive thoughts’ or ‘affirmations’ and see what you can come up with. This can be fun and since you’re making an effort to do this the angels will help and bless you. Just ask them to direct you, but keep in mind the affirmation has to relate to the negative thought you’re working on. And make sure you’re asking the angels to help you through each stage of the daily exercise to ensure it’s Heaven you’re listening to and not your own ego. In chapter 4, when walking you through how I tackled a specific negative thought, I’ll give you examples of affirmations.
When using these life changing statements, visualisation techniques can also help to deepen the mind change. You can see yourself in your favourite place while saying the affirmation such as a nearby beach or forest. Mine is a spiritual place way up in the Calabrian Mountains in the North of Spain. It’s a place I very much associate with the angels. Archangel Michael is very prominent there both in the local church and a nearby shrine. I hope to return there some day; it’s such a peaceful and uplifting place.
You can also visualise the negative thought as a troublesome weed which you see shrinking, drying up each day until it’s gone. You can visualise the positive thought growing alongside the dying toxic thought. It’s good to do this as it gives a sense of hope and immanent victory. At least it does with me. Use your God given imagination. You could also see the angels helping you uproot the weed and planting the seeds of the new healthy thought. Whatever helps.
A prayer I often say when doing this exercise, reading people’s angel cards or drawing their angels is:
Holy Angels, thank you for protecting my mind and guiding my thinking, so that it is the true me who is listening, the true me who hears and understands you; the true you who is speaking, the true you who communicates God’s love and grace to me. And I believe it is so.
This shows you trust the angels and are ready to receive their help. They love you thanking them ahead of time. It also tells them you are coming from a stance of belief and self-empowerment instead of uncertainty and fear.
Slowing the Mind
Before I finish this chapter I’d like to add a technique I use when I find it hard to slow my mind and am distracted from this meditative exercise. I take a blank piece of paper and write down whatever thoughts come into my mind. It doesn’t matter what gobbledygook goes down, you’ll only be tossing it in the bin anyway. It doesn’t matter how disjointed or silly it seems. The point is you’re vomiting the rubbish onto paper to help clear your mind, leaving you to focus on what matters: The Mental Cleansing and Refurbishment Exercise. If you need to write a few sides of A4, feel free. The point of this is to help you focus better with your daily exercise so you can get the most out of it.
Emotional Upset
I’ll finish this chapter with a wee word of caution. Melting away our diseased thoughts can have us experiencing emotional ups and downs, nothing major, but they can occur. Don’t be afraid if you feel down at times. It’s part of the process where you are being encouraged to let go of old, tired thoughts and energy which are no longer serving you (they never did to begin with!).
Ask the angels to comfort you at such times and, remember, you’re being liberated from lies and that which harms you. Rejoice instead. The positive thought pattern replacing it is set to bring you happiness and peace of mind.
Additionally, this book does not intend to replace the professional help some people may be in need of, such as counselling or psychotherapy. If you ever feel you need this kind of help, ask the angels to help direct you to the right person, organisation or self-help group. There’s no shame in seeking help. I’ve availed of these services myself and found them to be helpful.
So, to finish off, the above procedure is what you adopt each day for the three weeks. As I said before, take your time with it. I usually spend a good half hour doing this in the morning after my breakfast, but if I’m in a hurry, I can complete it in 10-15 minutes. After that I’m just using the affirmation throughout the day when I remember to say it or if a temptation arises that would have me think in the negative. Concerning yourselves - it’s up to you how long or short you wish to take.
The next chapter discusses the second and third week of the exercise since the focus differs a little with each week. The procedure of thinking, writing and self-affirming is the same though, so don’t panic.
Angelic Tidbits