We think that some external thing is going to help us change. We try this therapy, that diet, a different workout, this new fad. We pin our hopes on the next thing being the thing that will help us. Then when it doesn’t help, we feel more defeated than we did before.

All the things we think will fix us cannot possibly fix us because we don’t need fixing the way we think we do. We don’t need a new method or way of doing life to make us better.

We need to come to a new understanding, an awareness.

Our brain demands what it demands because we have taught it to do that. We didn’t train it on purpose to do the things we don’t want to do but by our attention, by our behavior, we trained our brain to do exactly what it is doing.

New insights about our brain can help us realize we are not broken or wrong, we just need to retrain our brain. We trained it to do one thing, we can train it to do something else.

The brain is not an “it” that needs fixing, it’s a mind that needs changing.

We are not hopelessly broken.

We have inner wisdom we can tap into if we take a moment to be still and quiet ourselves to be able to hear it. We practice listening for the inner wisdom. We pay attention to what our bodies are telling us. We get curious about our emotions. And as children of God, we have the Holy Spirit inside us helping us and leading us if we pay attention.

Feelings and behaviors are part of our story, our journey, that make us who we are. We can learn to see it all as moving, changing, fleeting experience. Thoughts come in our brain, but we don’t have to make them mean anything about us. We choose the story we tell ourselves.

We are not trying to make our feelings or emotions or thoughts go away, or eliminate them. What we experience and have been through, what we have done, is all part of who we are so it will always be in our brain. We choose to be aware. We choose how we think. We choose what we make it all mean. We can choose to train ourselves to live a different Way. We can train ourselves to respond differently with time and practice. We do not have to be controlled by old habits and behaviors.

Real freedom is found in being able to feel anything and not be overcome by it. We do not have to be afraid of a thought or feeling.

The memories of our old self are in our brain, but we are not control by the old ways of being. Our old self does not disappear it is part of who we are, but we no longer do that thing, and we are not afraid of it. We choose to put our thoughts and energy towards growing our new self. What we think about grows. We choose to think on Truth. We choose to tell ourselves our new story. We are a child of God. We are loved by The King. We are filled with the Holy Spirit. We are filled with grace and power.

This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! 2 Corinthians 5:17 NLT

The thoughts or feelings are going to come back because that is how our brains work but we don’t have to make it mean anything. It doesn’t mean we haven’t changed or recovered. It’s a fleeting memory coming back not a “sickness” coming back. We decide what we choose to think, so we choose to think it doesn’t mean anything it is just part of our experience.

Experience is just what it is moment to moment. We are in the flow of life, experience to experience, we allow the experiences to move through us, choosing not to get stuck in them. Don’t waste your energy on old habits. Transfer your energy to a new Way of being and functioning.

We are made new from the inside out. We become new creations, and are healed, as we do the internal work not from something external.

Our brain is habitual, thankfully it keeps us alive. What we pay attention to grows.

We need to change our narrative, our thinking. We tell ourselves a new story. We affirm ourselves with Truth.

And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. Romans 12:1-2 NLT

Beloved friends, what should be our proper response to God’s marvelous mercies? I encourage you to surrender yourselves to God to be his sacred, living sacrifices. And live in holiness, experiencing all that delights his heart. For this becomes your genuine expression of worship. Stop imitating the ideals and opinions of the culture around you, but be inwardly transformed by the Holy Spirit through a total reformation of how you think. This will empower you to discern God’s will as you live a beautiful life, satisfying and perfect in his eyes. Romans 12:1-2 TPT

Keep seeking and discovering! There is a better Way!