I’m not a fan of jumping. I do enjoy a good cardio class, but it has to be of the low impact variety, otherwise modifications are in order to accommodate my need for a less jarring, high-impact mode of aerobic fitness. It’s funny, really, because I used to be a gymnast. Now though, instead of doing the classic jumping jack, I do more of a dance-y one-at-a-time toe touch side to side as my arms flail up and down with each leg motion. It’s not that I can’t do jumping jacks. I just don’t want to anymore. Maybe it’s an age thing. 

It occurred to me recently while doing such fitness modifications that although I don’t like jumping, I’m extremely open and well rehearsed to jumping in another area of my life – my thoughts. Let me explain. I have a tendency to overthink about outcomes that didn’t turn out the way I expected. Because of it, I end up imagining other’s intentions before actually knowing the truth. Basically, I “jump to conclusions”, and I don’t usually do it in a positive way either. 

Maybe physical jumping has its place, but in the moment that I realized I did this with my thoughts, I finally understood that this sort of jumping has never, ever benefitted me. It has taken me years, but at last I realized I needed to stop this thought pattern of conclusion-al jumping. Furthermore, I knew I needed to start making modifications to my high-impact contemplations. Goodness gracious! Maybe it’s an age thing. 

There are three graceful steps that help with what I now like to call “Low Impact Thinking”:

1. Recognize…  Immediately realize the moment you’re jumping to a conclusion. This is important. Proverbs 18:2 says, “Fools have no interest in understanding; they only want to air their own opinions.” Don’t be foolish. Recognize that same jarring feeling you physically feel doing a real jumping jack, is the same mentally jarring feeling you get from such hurdling thoughts. 

2. Stop…  Simply and instantaneously stop the herky-jerky thought pattern you’re ruminating in. There’s nothing beneficial about it. Unlike the potential added benefits of the classic jumping jack, this jolting thinking is counterproductive.

3. Modify…  It’s really that easy. Just like with the high-impact jumping jacks in aerobics class, there’s always a way to revamp the jumping portion to make it less weighty on the body. Simply change those pouncing predications to ones that give the benefit of the doubt. In fact, Philippians 4:8 states to “Fix your thought on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.” 

One last thing, this change to low impact thinking has long term benefits to your overall character.  Now that you’ve learned how to modify this impactful thought pattern, you could even eliminate the jumping section altogether and move on to push-ups.