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Don’t Think About the Elephant

Whack!

I sighed as the softball hit the net above me. Had it been a game, my hit would’ve resulted in a lazy fly ball for an easy out.

“You’re close,” my hitting coach assured me, “but you have to keep your hands up and hit the center of the ball.”

“OK,” I said, lifting the bat off my shoulder and watching my dad feed another ball into the pitching machine. Don’t drop your hands, don’t drop your hands, don’t drop your hands, I thought.

The ball zoomed toward the plate, and I swung as hard as I could.

Whack!

Top of the net… again.

I stepped out of the batter’s box and took a half- hearted practice swing. My coach motioned for me to come over.

“If I tell you not to think about an elephant, what do you end up thinking about?”

I gave him a blank look and tried to get the image of a giant pachyderm out of my mind.

“An elephant, right?” he asked.

I smiled. “Yeah.”

“So when you’re up to bat and only think about not dropping your hands and hitting the bottom of the ball, guess what you do?”

I didn’t have to guess. I knew I kept hitting pop flies.

“On the next pitch,” my coach continued, “think about keeping your hands up and hitting the center.”

I nodded and stepped back in the box. My dad fed a ball into the machine.

Whack!

Line drive.

What elephants stomp around in your head? Thoughts affect your actions and your relationships with God and others. When you practice following the positive plan God teaches in the Bible, you’ll experience more success as you live for Him.

First up, focus. If you try not to think about bad things you don’t want to do, guess what you’ll be tempted to do? Instead of focusing on what you shouldn’t do, think about what God wants you to do.

The Bible says to fill your mind with what is pure, right and true (Philippians 4:8). Jesus said following Him was easy (Matthew 11:30). You just need to love God and love others (Matthew 22:37-39).

When I stopped concentrating on not hitting the ball the wrong way and focused on swinging correctly, I started experiencing success at the plate. I just needed to change my thinking by getting rid of the bad thoughts and replacing them with positive ones.

In the same way, honoring God is easier when you “set your minds on what is above, not on what is on the earth” (Colossians 3:2). Difficult circumstances or feelings of failure can weigh you down. Instead of falling into discouragement, focus on the hope you have in Christ. By thinking about how much He loves and strengthens you, you can live with a sense of victory.

Next, think about what talents God has given you. When you practice your gifts and use them for His glory, everyone benefits (1 Corinthians 12).

The first baseman on my team could catch almost anything we threw her way. Her long legs and arms meant she could reach bad throws. She also practiced catching balls that were thrown too low or hit the ground first. She was great at playing first base, but she wouldn’t have been very good at playing centerfield. Instead of wishing she was superfast, like our centerfielder, she worked hard to get the most out of the gifts she had.

God has given you amazing talents too. This doesn’t mean you’ll never fail or that you won’t need practice to improve. Positive actions come from good thoughts, so think about ways to use your talents for God’s glory.

Finally, think about others more. Most people spend a lot of time thinking about themselves. It’s important to develop a habit of considering the people around you.

The Apostle Paul reminds us in Philippians 2:4 that “everyone should look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.” This becomes possible when you think about how you can help.

During softball practice, I spent a lot of time thinking about how I was playing and what I needed to do better. But then I realized the whole team needed to be playing well for us to win. Some of my teammates needed extra encouragement. Others appreciated if I spent time doing an especially hard drill with them. When I focused on my team more than myself, we drew closer together and had more success.

Avoiding bad thoughts can feel like trying to ignore a giant elephant—impossible! But when you follow God’s advice in the Bible, you can transform your mind and build healthy habits that will help you be more like Jesus.

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