Regarding their thoughts, most people are the passenger rather than the driver. When someone is "messed up", it's not them personally which is messed up, it is their thoughts that are. You must make a mental decision to take any negative thought and tell that thought that it "will not take me captive!"

There are several kinds of negative thinkers out there. Have you ever been any of these?

1. Amplifiers: People who use words like every time, always and never in a negative way. (Example: I'll never succeed.) They distort reality with their speech and, thus, create a false realism, now or in the future, for themselves.
2. Feelers: People who accept every negative thought or feeling as true. They are not objective.
3. Guesser: People who pretend to know what everyone is thinking about them.
4. Exaggerators: People who take a molehill and turn it into a mountain. They thrive on drama.
5. Identifiers: People who take harmless events personally. All negative events are a personal event on them. (Example: Getting back at the car that cut you off on the highway.)
6. Forecasters: People who predict the worst case scenario in each situation in which they're involved.
7. Cynics: People who find something wrong in every situation; the reward of which is becoming increasingly cynical, thus creating a downward spiral.
8. Blamers: People who take responsibility off of themselves temporarily, but make themselves a victim permanently.
9. Justifiers: People who constantly say things like "if you knew what I've been through..."

Some people think that the best way to hand their negativity is by (a) supressing it by burying it inside, which can make themselves mentally and/or physically ill, or (b) expressing it to others, thereby spewing "emotional vomit" and creating a negative environment for everyone around.

However, you can learn to starve that way of thinking by going though this plan of action:

1. Acknowledge that you have negative emotions. These are the "dashboard warning lights" of thought. Ask yourself: Is this a really serious problem or just a small thing that can be easily repaired?
2. Take the emotion captive. Challenge that thought and ask yourself if it's true. Marathoners may tell themselves that they are going to die, but it's the negativity that they are trained to overcome in order to finish the race.
3. Own your emotions. Say to yourself: "I am responsible for the way I feel and they way I'm thinking right now." This robs negative thoughts of the emotional oxygen needed to survive. This only needs to happen a few times and it will liberate you.
4. Look at the big picture. When you step back and take a look at your situation from a different perspective, you'll see that most of our issues are easy to oversome or are only a short-term problem rather than a major catastrophe.
5. Refuse. Don't continually replay or rehash that negative thought in your mind. That breeds more and more negativity.
6. Get alone with God. Find a quiet place and listen to Him.
7. Practice empathy and compassion. Try this: Show compassion for the driver of that car that cuts you off or that person who's showing you pain. What if that person had just dealt with a personal tragedy or a major emotional issue? Understand that hurt people hurt people. Pray for that person. Ask yourself why they are doing those things and decide that it's not something personal with you.
8. Be continually filled with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will guide you into the whole truth.

Be the person who brings blessing upon others rather than curses!