Too many of us live with an uncontrolled thought life. It is possible to learn to identify destructive thoughts and make wiser choices. Instead of letting those thoughts rumble freely about in my mind, I make the choice to harness them and direct them toward truth.

if we allow our thoughts to stink, that smell will leak out of every bit of us—our words, our actions, and especially our reactions.

when you and I roll around in thoughts that stink, it affects the atmosphere everywhere we go.

Negative self-talk was a rejection from my past that I had allowed to settle into the core of who I am. I talked about myself in ways I would never let another person. Hints of self-rejection laced my thoughts and poisoned my words more than I cared to admit.

We are to think about, ponder, and park our minds on constructive thoughts, not destructive thoughts.

Thoughts that breathe life into us, not suck life from us.

And what we think about can consume us if

Negative self-talk was a rejection from my past that I had allowed to settle into the core of who I am. I talked about myself in ways I would never let another person.

Finally, if some situations or relationships feed our insecurities, maybe we need to take a break from them for a season.

Each morning my mind is like a dry sponge. Whatever I soak up first is what I'll be most saturated with each day. And what I'm most saturated with each day is what I'll leak out on others when life's tough stuff squeezes me.

What consumes my thinking will be the making or the breaking of my identity.

I have discovered that if I can change the way I think about something, I can change the way I react to it. If I change the way I react, I can change the way I define myself as a mother.