A thought is like an arrow shooting through our mind. There is nothing that we can do about those arrows. Our minds think. That’s what they are designed to do.

Where we have control is whether or not we want to fire a second arrow.

For example:

Arrow One: I’m late for work.
Arrow Two: I’m going to get fired.

Arrow One: I need help.
Arrow Two: I can’t do this job.

Arrow One: They just ignored me.
Arrow Two: They hate me.

I could go on.

Arrow One is usually an observation or objective fact.

Arrow Two is created by our imagination. It is rarely fact. What is factually correct, however, is that Arrow Two usually leads to fear and anxiety.

If we don’t want to feel as if we are constantly under fire, we need to avoid shooting Arrow Two.