I can’t control the thoughts that pop into my mind nor the immediate feelings that come to my heart but I can control my focus. Last night I watched a movie that left a lingering feeling.  Subsequently, late in the night, that feeling was stirred by random thoughts that when focusing on them caused my mind to go downhill fast.

You know me, I ponder, and understanding made me realize think about something else. What I know is that my thoughts determine my feelings so if I want to feel differently then I need to change my thoughts to something else. With that knowledge in mind this scripture has extra meaning:

• “But this much I can tell you, that if ye do not watch yourselves, and your thoughts, and your words, and your deeds, and observe the commandments of God, and continue in the faith of what ye have heard concerning the coming of our Lord, even unto the end of your lives, ye must perish. And now, O man, remember, and perish not.” (Mosiah 4:30)

I’m not forever at the mercy of my thoughts or feelings but am in control of myself. I know from personal experience that when a feeling comes to me that I don’t want to feel right then I think about something else until the feeling changes.