Don’t Let Your Thoughts Drive; They’re Not Licensed

There was a time in my life when I believed every thought that passed through my mind. If a thought said, “This is going to go wrong,” I believed it. If it said, “They must be upset with me,” I believed that too. Catastrophizing and over-thinking felt normal — like breathing.

Then, in 2011, I was introduced to Science of Mind, and something in me started to shift. Not in one big moment — but slowly, through self-observation. I began to notice that many of my reactions were not conscious choices. They were patterns. Patterns formed long ago, operating beneath awareness.

A Little Science — In Simple Language

When something in the present feels similar to something from the past, the amygdala — the emotional alarm center — reacts immediately. This happens before we have time to think about it. The body tightens, the breath shortens, the heart speeds up. Only after this does the thinking brain (the prefrontal cortex) come online and try to explain the reaction.

The explanation the mind gives is usually a story, a justification, a judgment, or a memory of who was wrong before. This means our reactions are not flaws in character. They are conditioned neural patterns.

And here is the hopeful part: Neuroplasticity

The brain can change. New emotional responses can be learned. Old patterns can soften and dissolve. We can become more spacious, more compassionate, and more free.

The Spiritual Principle

Science of Mind teaches that thought is creative, feeling fuels thought, repeated attention forms patterns, and patterns shape experience. But we are not at the mercy of those patterns. Because the one who can observe the thought is greater than the thought.

This is the beginning of freedom.

This is what Ernest Holmes meant when he wrote:

“Dedicated to that Truth which frees man from himself and sets him on the pathway of a new experience, which enables him to see through the mist and to the Eternal and Changeless Reality.”

To be “freed from ourselves” means freed from automatic reactions, inherited emotional patterns, and the mindset that creates us vs. them.

Where We Get Stuck: The Habit of Othering

All minds judge. Judgment is built into the nervous system. But when we don’t notice judgment, it turns into othering: “I’m right. They’re wrong.” “I know better.” “They are the problem.”

Othering creates subtle separation — and separation becomes culture if we don’t recognize it.

This is why our practice matters.

When we pause and breathe — even for a few seconds — we shift out of the conditioned mind and back into our Higher Awareness, the part of us that can listen deeply, speak honestly, set healthy boundaries, ask questions rather than assume, and see others as beings with their own history and heart.

This is how unity becomes real — not conceptual, but lived.

The Practice This Week

When you feel activated: pause, breathe (long slow exhale), notice what’s happening inside without explaining it, and speak only when the body softens.

This is not avoidance. This is self-governance. This is spiritual maturity.

We are learning this together — gently, compassionately, and step by step.

See you Sunday. We walk this path side-by-side.

With love and purpose,

Rev. Tracey Harrick