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Abstract

tertainment has been on a moral downward spiral for years. How could you not be affected when so much of it includes bloodshed, profanity, nudity, sexuality, and too much other junk to mention?</p><p id="c67e">Why subject yourself to so much nonsense. Find something better to do with your time and life!</p><ul><li><b>Reading</b> — books in print, eBooks, magazines, articles, and online reading sources.</li></ul><p id="c2a8">While there is plenty of trash and unfit “entertainment” to read, there are exceptions. Choose carefully, and you will find many good things to read. Just beware of the ever-increasing amount of materials that can negatively influence your thoughts.</p><p id="2c68">Why not use some of this time to read the <b>greatest book ever written</b> — the Bible? It was divinely inspired and contains an enormous amount of true wisdom.</p><p id="6120">· <b>Music</b> — downloaded digital, streaming, vinyl, tape, etc.</p><p id="dbce">As with books, music can run the gamut from beautiful to horrible. Be careful about what you allow to enter your ears. Why not use some of this time for the good?</p><ul><li><b>Podcasts </b>— downloaded, streaming.</li></ul><p id="cedd">As with books and music, podcasts can run the gamut from good to bad. Again, be careful what you allow to enter your ears.</p><p id="fc71">With each of the above, if you want to think more positively and cleanse your thoughts, you must limit the negative, bad, and morally corrupt. Compromising on questionable material is a poor choice, as it will still affect your thoughts negatively.</p><h2 id="f75f">What can you do?</h2><p id="faa7">Take an honest look at how much time you spend with each of the above categories. Realize even a tiny amount affects your thoughts. Imagine what allowing eleven hours a day does to them!</p><p id="b67b"><b>A personal example is turning off the news.</b> I have been a news junkie for years, until recently. I found myself more and more stressed and upset about what is going on in the world. Does it mean I don’t care anymore? NO! However, I refuse to allow the news media to have any control over me and my thoughts. Why feed their sensationalism and negativity to my brain? Even a little bit of it is a bad influence.</p><p id="5e39">Since turning off the news, I feel so much better. Far less stress is in my life now. My thoughts are not nearly as negative as they had been. As a bonus, <b>I have reclaimed a couple or more hours each day</b>! As invaluable as time is, why would I want to waste it on something terrible for me and my health? Remember, time is life, so I have not only reclaimed time, but I have reclaimed part of my life!</p><h2 id="d47c">Final thoughts</h2><p id="8c60">Take control of what you allow to enter the gates to your mind. Retake the time you lose on all of that malnourishment. Imagine what you could do with a few extra hours each day. You could use it to alter the course of your life radically!</p><p id="0981">If you must turn to various media, choose wholesome things that do not pull your life down. And don’t forget to limit your consumption. You and everyone around you will thank you!</p><p id="793d"><b>This article is not complete without the following postscript.</b></p><p id="f315"><b>Why not begin to fill your life with the good that comes from reading God’s word.</b> It is a never-ending source of wisdom and hope for life.</p><p id="b91a">God already knows our thoughts and whether they are right or wrong.</p><blockquote id="4234"><p>“A person might think their own ways are right. But the Lord knows what they are thinking.” Proverbs 21:2 NIRV</p></blockquote><p id="49af">Christians also know God is good and gives us a fresh start every day.</p><blockquote id="e240"><p>“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:22–23 ESV</p></blockquote><p id="2afd">Does that mean we can do anything we want? Considering it would be rebellious, no!</p><blockquote id="cd64"><p>“For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft,” 1 Samuel 15:23 NKJV</p></blockquote><p

Options

id="411d">Christians learn they are to become more like Christ and less like themselves.</p><blockquote id="1f71"><p>“He must increase, but I must decrease.” John 3:30 NKJV</p></blockquote><p id="7743">And I am always thankful for His amazing mercy and grace.</p><blockquote id="c72f"><p>“Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Hebrews 4:16 NKJV</p></blockquote><p id="713e">Remember, if you are a believer, your life is not yours. It belongs to Christ.</p><blockquote id="f718"><p>“But now you belong to Christ Jesus.” Ephesians 2:13a NLV</p></blockquote><p id="ecff">Whether you know Christ or not, this next scripture can change your life forever!</p><blockquote id="8e19"><p>“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9 ESV</p></blockquote><p id="292d">Why not accept Christ today?</p><blockquote id="f9e0"><p>“If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved.” Romans 9–10</p></blockquote><p id="4467">Why not accept His salvation? Ask Him to not allow the world to steal any more of your time. To not let your thoughts be influenced any longer by this world’s negativity, filth, and nastiness.</p><p id="606c">Your time is your life. Guard your time, guard your mind, and live a far better life!</p><p id="531b"><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/williamabbate/">LinkedIn</a> |<a href="https://twitter.com/billabbate">Twitter</a>| <a href="https://billabbate.medium.com/">Medium</a>| <a href="http://billabbate.com/">UncommonSense</a>| <a href="http://www.amazon.com/author/billabbate">AmazonAuthorPage</a> | <a href="https://parler.com/BillAbbate">Parlor</a></p><div id="4d2a" class="link-block"> <a href="https://billabbate.medium.com/membership"> <div> <div> <h2>Join Medium with my referral link - Bill Abbate</h2> <div><h3>Read every story from Bill Abbate (and thousands of other writers on Medium). Your membership fee directly supports…</h3></div> <div><p>billabbate.medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/0*7Y52Tqb_3XVq5D25)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><p id="26a0"><a href="https://readmedium.com/d5b8d684dcbc?source=post_page-----834577ca2b4a----------------------">Bill Abbate</a> Leadership Writer and Editor in <a href="https://medium.com/illumination">ILLUMINATION</a></p><p id="3d21">Thank you for reading this article! If you enjoyed it, please check out the others below!</p><div id="a6f7" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/how-outside-influences-affect-you-3a8423975f4e"> <div> <div> <h2>How Outside Influences Affect You</h2> <div><h3>Taking back control of your life</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*tmlsOlUXRD_m1QGVtxckRA.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><div id="87d7" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/better-understand-relationships-to-improve-your-life-50de58ffc9c0"> <div> <div> <h2>Better Understand Relationships to Improve Your Life</h2> <div><h3>The difference good relationships make</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*hEf50dcN8iLM3bVH39Cg-A.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div></article></body>

Inspiration and Life

What Are You Feeding Your Mind?

Put your brain on a diet

Who can tell what goes on in this mind of ours? Can anyone ever know? We think about so much during an average day — concern, worry, doubt, vanity, lust, jealousy, hate, love, questioning, and so much more. Because no one is perfect, we have both good and not-so-good thoughts.

Should you be concerned about your thoughts? Especially those that are not so good. The short answer is yes. More on this later.

About your thoughts

Why do we think the thoughts we do? From where do they come?

The first thing to realize about your thoughts is they are created by what you allow to enter your mind. They don’t materialize out of thin air. They are yours. They are part of you. You own them.

“For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.” Proverbs 23:7a NKJV

Think of your brain as a fortress. Your eyes and ears are gates that allow entry. Whenever you open the gates, sight and sound enter your mind. What are you allowing in?

The second thing to realize about your thoughts is you are responsible for opening and closing the gates. Your acceptance of responsibility for this defines your level of maturity. To become a mature adult, you must accept full responsibility for your thoughts and actions. As a young child, you are subject to the influence of adults. As an adult, what excuse do you have?

The third thing to realize about your thoughts is what you think influences what you do and do not do and what you say and do not say. When you are around other people, physically, aurally, on video, and in writing, you influence them. They see, hear, or read your words, which has some measure of impact.

The questions to ask yourself are:

“What am I opening my gates to? (“What am I letting in?”)
“What results do these open gates have on my mind and my world? What about those who are around me?”

It helps to examine what you let into the gates of your mind to answer these questions.

What are you allowing to enter your mind?

As mentioned, to be a mature adult, you must accept complete responsibility for what you allow to enter your mind. You can think of what you let in as food that can nourish or malnourish your thoughts. Let’s examine what you permit and do not permit to be before you.

Ask yourself, “What am I allowing to enter my eyes and ears?”

Visually it can include television, videos, plays, electronic or print media, books, etc.
Auditorily it can include radio, podcasts, music, etc.

Next, get more specific about how much time you allow these visual and auditory gates to be open in your mind. Did you know the average person spends more than 11 hours daily on media consumption? Since we consume so much, how could it not affect our thoughts?

Estimate the amount of time you spend each day on the following sources:

News — TV, cable, radio, streaming, newspapers, etc.

News media certainly influences your thoughts. Did you know 90% of news reporting is negative? How could anyone’s thoughts exposed to that much negativity not be affected?

Entertainment (movies, videos, and shows) via TV, streaming services (Netflix, YouTube, etc.).

The trend in entertainment has been on a moral downward spiral for years. How could you not be affected when so much of it includes bloodshed, profanity, nudity, sexuality, and too much other junk to mention?

Why subject yourself to so much nonsense. Find something better to do with your time and life!

Reading — books in print, eBooks, magazines, articles, and online reading sources.

While there is plenty of trash and unfit “entertainment” to read, there are exceptions. Choose carefully, and you will find many good things to read. Just beware of the ever-increasing amount of materials that can negatively influence your thoughts.

Why not use some of this time to read the greatest book ever written — the Bible? It was divinely inspired and contains an enormous amount of true wisdom.

· Music — downloaded digital, streaming, vinyl, tape, etc.

As with books, music can run the gamut from beautiful to horrible. Be careful about what you allow to enter your ears. Why not use some of this time for the good?

Podcasts — downloaded, streaming.

As with books and music, podcasts can run the gamut from good to bad. Again, be careful what you allow to enter your ears.

With each of the above, if you want to think more positively and cleanse your thoughts, you must limit the negative, bad, and morally corrupt. Compromising on questionable material is a poor choice, as it will still affect your thoughts negatively.

What can you do?

Take an honest look at how much time you spend with each of the above categories. Realize even a tiny amount affects your thoughts. Imagine what allowing eleven hours a day does to them!

A personal example is turning off the news. I have been a news junkie for years, until recently. I found myself more and more stressed and upset about what is going on in the world. Does it mean I don’t care anymore? NO! However, I refuse to allow the news media to have any control over me and my thoughts. Why feed their sensationalism and negativity to my brain? Even a little bit of it is a bad influence.

Since turning off the news, I feel so much better. Far less stress is in my life now. My thoughts are not nearly as negative as they had been. As a bonus, I have reclaimed a couple or more hours each day! As invaluable as time is, why would I want to waste it on something terrible for me and my health? Remember, time is life, so I have not only reclaimed time, but I have reclaimed part of my life!

Final thoughts

Take control of what you allow to enter the gates to your mind. Retake the time you lose on all of that malnourishment. Imagine what you could do with a few extra hours each day. You could use it to alter the course of your life radically!

If you must turn to various media, choose wholesome things that do not pull your life down. And don’t forget to limit your consumption. You and everyone around you will thank you!

This article is not complete without the following postscript.

Why not begin to fill your life with the good that comes from reading God’s word. It is a never-ending source of wisdom and hope for life.

God already knows our thoughts and whether they are right or wrong.

“A person might think their own ways are right. But the Lord knows what they are thinking.” Proverbs 21:2 NIRV

Christians also know God is good and gives us a fresh start every day.

“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:22–23 ESV

Does that mean we can do anything we want? Considering it would be rebellious, no!

“For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft,” 1 Samuel 15:23 NKJV

Christians learn they are to become more like Christ and less like themselves.

“He must increase, but I must decrease.” John 3:30 NKJV

And I am always thankful for His amazing mercy and grace.

“Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Hebrews 4:16 NKJV

Remember, if you are a believer, your life is not yours. It belongs to Christ.

“But now you belong to Christ Jesus.” Ephesians 2:13a NLV

Whether you know Christ or not, this next scripture can change your life forever!

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9 ESV

Why not accept Christ today?

“If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved.” Romans 9–10

Why not accept His salvation? Ask Him to not allow the world to steal any more of your time. To not let your thoughts be influenced any longer by this world’s negativity, filth, and nastiness.

Your time is your life. Guard your time, guard your mind, and live a far better life!

Join Medium with my referral link - Bill Abbate

Read every story from Bill Abbate (and thousands of other writers on Medium). Your membership fee directly supports…

billabbate.medium.com

Bill Abbate Leadership Writer and Editor in ILLUMINATION

Thank you for reading this article! If you enjoyed it, please check out the others below!