There are some simple options for better thinking, and the simplest tool is to "Slow your emotions down." That only requires counting to 10, taking 3 deep breaths, or calling a timeout. That tool was probably taught to you as a child and has been proven with medical research on the brain. Another great tool is Pre-decide - so powerful for helping you stay away from those things that are common temptations for you.

Emotions Respond

Most situations will stimulate your emotions in some way. It can be anything from a near-miss collision with another car, hearing lies about you, or a temptation to sin. Whatever it is, something happens, and feelings are stimulated. Your flesh is ready to act, and your self-control may be switched off.

You have a choice at that moment, but you may not realize it. Follow your emotions, like your sin nature and wrong thinking, or follow the Spirit. Too often, you react to the situation and never see other choices and options. So, one of the simple options for better thinking is to slow your emotions (thinking) down. Notice that thinking is in parenthesis. That is because your feelings respond to your thinking, as you learned earlier.

The Amygdala

Certain emotionally significant events get stored in a portion of your brain called the amygdala – two small lobes in the base of the brain, one on the right and the other on the left. That portion of your brain does not consider time. Therefore, you believe that memory is relevant now, even though it may not be valid. So, when a stimulus arouses a previously stored memory, the amygdalae prepare your body to react or respond according to that stored memory.

For example, when I was about eight years old, I was bitten by what appeared to be a friendly dog. I was petting the dog, and then suddenly it bit my face, my cheek! Even though I have had numerous experiences with dogs since then, that memory still creates caution, especially if the dog is unknown.

Tests of people’s brains using Magnetic Resonance Imaging show that when a person is in a situation that stimulates the amygdala, the connections with the frontal lobe, the “thinking” part of the brain, are bypassed. The person responds according to the memories stored.

However, when coached to take three deep breaths before acting or speaking, that little time restores the connections to the frontal lobe, allowing rational thought instead of reaction.

Slowing Your Emotions (Thinking) Helps

Slowing your emotions allows you to reflect on other options. It is one of the easiest of the simple options for better thinking. Hopefully, you are in God’s Word and under good biblical teaching to consider Godly principles, Christ-like values, and truth. Without the foundation of good values, slowing your emotions may only delay your reaction. But if you have a good foundation, slowing your emotions allows you to choose sound principles, truth, and virtues.

Simple, right? Isn’t that what you learned as a child? Count to 10, and take a deep breath – that helps slow you down to reflect instead of reacting. What you learned is correct and works.

Finally, some clarification because this may sound like your emotions are leading, not your thinking. How are you “slowing your emotions down?” You change your thinking from the stored memory to reality. The memory stored in the amygdala forms from your thoughts and experiences in a previous situation. So, even when it appears that emotions are leading, thinking is the culprit.

Watch the video to hear about other simple options for better thinking.