Imagine you are wanting a new pair of jeans. What do you do? Think about it. Wonder which ones will work. Then, you go shopping!

Do you buy the first pair you see when you walk into the store? Of course not. You pursue. Choose three or four pair that might work and take them to the dressing room. Right?

Then, you try them on. How do they feel? Can I sit down comfortably? How do they look? Are they flattering? How much do they cost? Are they worth it?

WHAT IF…JUST WHAT IF….we related to our thoughts the same we relate to jeans (and anything else we’re going to “OWN”?) What if we didn’t buy the first one just because it’s there? What if we looked around for three or four other thoughts we COULD have about that thing (i.e. what they said or did, what we said or did or didn’t do)? and then “bought” the one that felt good and didn’t cost us our self esteem or that thing ?

Here’s was DOES happen we we have this skill: We start and continue to have RESPONSES instead of REACTIONS. And those responses are aligned with what we value and our intentions.

Viktor Frankl, author of “Man’s Search for Meaning,” after being held by the Nazi’s in a 4 X 4 plywood box for over with months,

“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way. Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space lives our ability to choose. In our choices live our life and our joy.”

Imagine what would be different in your life if you were skillful at shopping your thoughts?