SAVOR SUMMER: SHOP, DINE & EXPLORE PAGE 22 theconnectionsnj.com he average person has 60,000 thoughts a day. And 80% of them are negative. That’s roughly 48,000 negative thoughts per day. I wish that were a typo! I assure you, to our dismay, it isn’t. Worry. Self-doubt. Catastrophizing. Replaying conversations at 2 a.m. Assuming the worst over a delayed text. Beliefs that you’re behind, not enough, too much, not ready, not capable. Our 48,000 negative thoughts raise a larger question: how many of them have we mistaken for facts? Because maybe that is where the real problem begins. Not in having negative thoughts, but in believing every single one of them. A thought, repeated often enough, can stop feeling like a passing thought and start becoming a belief. And beliefs, especially unconscious ones, shape exactly how we see ourselves, what we expect, and how we move through the world. You have to wonder: how often are we calling something who we are when it may just be a mental habit we’ve worn for too long? Like a beloved but outdated coat hanging in the closet, some thoughts have been with us so long they feel like part of our identity, when in truth, they may simply be old patterns that no longer fit and are ready to be donated. Neuroscience tells us that repeated thoughts strengthen neural pathways. What we often think, we reinforce, and what we emotionally rehearse, we become familiar with. In some cases, even the body becomes conditioned to the chemistry of stress or fear. The first step is not fighting your thoughts but noticing them. There is something quietly revolutionary about simply becoming a witness to your own mind! Watching a thought arrive the way you might watch a stranger walk into a room, with curiosity rather than alarm. Notice when the mind says I’m behind. Notice how fear turns into a story. Notice when an old thought shows up dressed as truth. Because awareness creates distance, and distance creates choice. One of the most powerful practices is to name the thought as it appears. That’s worry. That’s self-doubt. That’s catastrophizing. That’s an old pattern looking for somewhere to land. In naming it, you stop merging with it and move from being inside the thought to simply observing it. And once you can observe it, you can let it pass. Some thoughts are like people at a party, you don’t have to invite them into a deeper conversation! And here is what I want you to hold onto: you are not failing if the old thoughts keep returning. Some of them have been with you longer than certain friendships, longer than cities you’ve lived in, longer than versions of yourself you’ve already outgrown. Of course, they don’t disappear overnight! The goal is to stop letting every thought cast a vote on who you are. New ways of thinking will feel strange before they feel like home, and then one day, almost without noticing, they simply will. That part, I promise, is not a typo either. T CAMPERS &CAVIAR Learning the Art of Living Well Don’t Believe Your Brain Sometimes... By Serafina Valentine The first step is not fighting your thoughts but noticing them. There is something quietly revolutionary about simply becoming a witness to your own mind! June 12-26 eeKS TaSTe of Warren Two Weeks to Dine! Alfie’s 908-412-1555 alfiesristorante.com Brown Sugar Café 908-381-1178 brownsugarcafenj.com Bruno’s Bistro 732-2711777 brunosbistro.com Capriotti’s Sandwich 908-834-8011 capriottis.com Casa Romero Mexican Grill 2 732-563-0480 casaromerorestaurant2.com Dumpling House/ Hawaiian Poke Bowl 732-377-9100 dumplinghousenj.com Forest Lodge 908-754-7300 forestlodgecatering.com La Colina Mexican Restaurant 908-668-4810 lacolinanewjersey.com Lukas Seafood & Grille 908-668-4888 lukasnj.com Malanga Farm and Greenhouse 732-356-0122 malangafarms.com Scan QR to see ads in our Warren edition! Participating Warren Restaurants Moon Tea 908-834-8027 moonteanj.com Pita Grill & Creperie 908-753-7482 pitagrillandcreperie.com/warren Remi’s Ristorante 908-755-0032 remisristorante.com Saly Gs Mountaintop Grill 732-667-7400 salygsrestaurant.com Silk Road 908-561-8288 silkroadrestaurantnj.com Somerset Hills Hotel 908-542-1111 hilton.com/en/hotels/ewrstup-somerset-hills-hotel Troy’s Firehouse & Bar 908-333-6027 troysfirehousenj.com Uproot 908-834-8194 uprootrestaurant.com Warren Deli & Grill 908-412-9100 warrendeli.com Warrenville Bread Hotplate.com/warrenvillebread Zaytin Turkish Cuisine 908-279-7779 zaytinrestaurant.com DINE, STAMP & WIN! Connect with Warren Township for details to pick up your Dining Passport www.warrennj.com Restaurant
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