“This inner voice that we have is not something that we want to rid ourselves of. It’s something that we want to harness. The challenge is to figure out if you find yourself slipping into the dark side of chatter. How can we minimize that and accentuate the more positive side of the inner voice?”
— Ethan Kross, professor and director of the Emotion and Self-Control Lab at the University of Michigan

Life has a way of wearing us down. We all know what it’s like to feel overwhelmed, anxious, or trapped in a cycle of negative thinking. Sometimes it’s the stress of a packed schedule. Other times it’s a lingering sense of inadequacy—or the subtle weight of worries that haven’t happened yet, but still manage to steal our peace. Whatever the cause, it’s easy to get caught up in the noise of our own minds.

This is where Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor offers an important and helpful perspective. Dr. Taylor, a neuroscientist and former Harvard professor, experienced a massive stroke that shut down the left hemisphere of her brain. In the hours that followed, she lost the ability to walk, talk, read, write, and remember key parts of her life. Her story of recovery—and the insights she gained along the way—have touched millions. 

In her TED Talk and books, she offers a hopeful and challenging message: We have far more influence over our thoughts and feelings than we’ve been led to believe. As she puts it:

“I can become my anger in an instant. It’s a group of cells in my brain. Where do I want to consciously place my energy? Because it’s all cells and circuitry. . . . The more we run a circuit, the more power it begins to run on its own. . . . We have so much more power over what’s going on inside of our brains than we have ever been taught.”

This is both sobering and empowering. Every thought we entertain, every emotion we dwell on, every grudge we nurse—these are all circuits we strengthen. Over time, these thought patterns gain momentum, making it harder to break free. 

But the flip side is also true: when we deliberately redirect our focus, when we choose gratitude over resentment, calm over worry, trust over fear, we’re forming new pathways. This is the work of rewiring our minds, moment by moment, choice by choice.

The key lies in attention. What we focus on shapes how we feel, and ultimately, who we become. That’s why it’s not enough to simply resist temptation in the obvious areas of life. We also need to guard against the more subtle habits that drain us: ruminating over worst-case scenarios, fixating on past failures, indulging in self-pity or resentment. These patterns might feel familiar—even justified—but they keep us stuck.

This is where many of us face a quiet, often-overlooked challenge: Learning to exercise self-control not just over what we do, but over where we place our attention. And that’s no small task. It’s a daily, moment-by-moment discipline—choosing, again and again, to shift our focus away from the downward spiral and toward what is true, noble, and life-giving.

This is exactly what the Bible instructs us to do. The apostle Paul 

puts it this way in Philippians 4:8:

"Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."

It’s worth asking: where is my attention going today? What patterns am I strengthening—whether I realize it or not?

That’s where the real work begins.