AUTOMATIC NEGATIVE THOUGHTS (ANTS)

It appears that the the last two books we have been reading and all my classes have been talking about those silly ANTS you know, those automatic negative thoughts that seem to bring us down. William Backus' and Marie Chapian's (2000) book, Telling Yourself the Truth, says that our thoughts can change our biochemistry (chemical composition in our brain cells and the rest of our central nervous system) which can change the way we feel. This is not a new concept despite what psychologists are saying. The Bible talks about it too. "For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he" (Proverbs 23:7, KJV). So, not only does our thoughts determine how we feel, but also our behavior too.

When speaking about the peace and calmness that spirituality provides, the father of modern psychology, William James, said that the "greatest revolution of our generation is the discovery that human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives."

"The Cognitive Model, which is the foundation of Cognitive Therapy, proposes that our emotions and behavior are the product of our perceptions of situations" (J.S. Beck, 1995). Beck (1976) also says that we are usually more aware of the emotion associated with the thought rather than the automatic thought itself.

So what do we do with this information? Do we just simply think happy thoughts? One of the Cognitive Therapy techniques is to write down all your ANTs and replace them with healthy thoughts.

Jesus tells us that we should believe and have faith. Faith is a noun that refers to the act of believing (Backus & Chapian, 2000). If we believe and have faith, then certain things can happen in our lives (Matthew 9:29). Jesus said we can move mountains if we have faith as small as a mustard seed (Matthew 17:20).

Backus and Chapian (2000) in their book state that "we must systematically discover, analyze, argue against and replace with truths the misbeliefs in our lives" (p. 27).

Let's start moving some mountains!