This is a good article on how the things we allow ourselves to think about and dwell upon shape us over time.

Clinton Manley: “To change the metaphor, you write “on the tablet of your heart” through your patterns of attention (Proverbs 3:3, 7:3). The more you return to a line of thought, the deeper the inscription goes. Over time, the scribbles on your mind become well-worn carvings. They harden into habits.”

When the kids were young, and this still applies to the 5 year old, it was very hard, nearly impossible, to get them out of a rut of negativity and complaining. The longer they’d continue, the deeper the rut would get. There was never any reasoning them out of it. Usually the only path forward was to distract them and change the subject entirely.

I’m not sure it’s much better as an adult. If I let myself continually dwell on the Lies, the Bad, and the Ugly, then over time it gets hard for me to get out of the rut. There is much to confess and repent of here.