The Grasshopper visited with this thought yesterday: “Thoughts are visitors, not tenants.”

If an uninvited thought pops up in your mind, you grant it squatter’s rights if you treat it as anything other than a visitor. When these type of thoughts become tenants, they become harder to evict.

Years ago, I recognized that these thoughts are begging for attention. So, I decided to notice them and give them their say – once. After the thought was expressed in my head, I would say, “thanks for visiting.” It did two things:

1. Acknowledged its existence.

2. Politely showed it the door.

I didn’t engage with the thought with counter thoughts; I just acknowledged its presence. If you engage in an internal argument with a thought, it just hangs around longer and starts measuring for drapes.

Sidebar: Have you ever won an argument with your mind?

The number of negative feelings caused by nagging thoughts are too many to mention, so I’ll just pick one as an illustration: Guilt.

What causes guilt other than an unwanted, lingering, thought?

If you want to prevent a self-destructive emotion like guilt from taking up residence in your mind, show it the welcome mat and then thank it for stopping by.

You may have to thank it multiple times for it to take the hint and head for the door, but the thought will leave quicker if you choose not to bicker.

All the best,

John

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