What Are You Entertaining? · Living Strong Community

What Are You Entertaining?

The other day, one of my mentors asked me a question that i noted in my journal.

“Do you entertain negative thoughts?”

Not whether they appear. They will. We’re human. We’ve lived. We’ve been bruised. We’ve taken hits. Thoughts come and go like weather.

The real question is this: Do you give them a chair at your table?

That word — entertain — is powerful. When you entertain something, you give it time. Attention. Energy. You make space for it.

And here’s what I know after 60-plus years of living, rebuilding, starting over, and evolving:

Thoughts become words.

Words become beliefs.

Beliefs become actions.

Actions become direction.

Direction becomes destiny.

If I constantly rehearse thoughts like:

“I’m behind.”

“I’m too old.”

“I should be further.”

“This won’t work.”

Then I begin speaking those words. And when I speak them long enough, I start to believe them. And when I believe them, I act smaller. And when I act smaller, my world shrinks.

That’s not philosophy.

That’s training.

In martial arts, we don’t rise to our hopes. We return to what we practice. And many of us practice negative thinking without realizing it.

Now hear me clearly: This is not about pretending everything is perfect. It’s not about ignoring pain. I’ve had two hip replacements. I’ve faced debt. I’ve faced doubt. I’ve had hard seasons.

This is about discipline.

You can acknowledge a negative thought without entertaining it.

You can say: “I see you.” “I understand why you showed up.” “But you don’t get to run this house.”

Then you replace it with something stronger.

Not fantasy. Not hype. Truth.

“I am learning.”

“I am adapting.”

“I am becoming.”

“I am still in the fight.”

“I am still useful.”

“I am still building.”

That shift changes your nervous system. It changes your posture. It changes your tone. It changes your decisions.

And decisions, repeated daily, build a life.

This is the Power of Self. Self-awareness to notice the thought. Self-control to interrupt it. Self-discipline to replace it. Self-respect to speak better words over your own life.

You don’t control every thought that knocks. But you do control which ones get a seat.

So today, pay attention.

What are you entertaining?

Because what you repeatedly entertain will eventually shape your future.

Choose thoughts that build. Choose words that strengthen. Choose direction that expands.

That’s how we keep Living Strong.

1:52

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