So our thoughts are always ours to change.

We can accept them, we can reject them, we can adjust them, we can revise them.

We can even get rid of the pesky as freeloaders, but we have to understand that it comes

down to how we perceive things.

Welcome to the spiritually hungry podcast. Let's start with a story. I love your stories. I know. I haven't

said one in a while. I don't know. I was getting sad. You're going to make fun of this one. I can already feel it.

Oh really? Should I? You tell me, do I have permission? Do you ever wait for my permission? I'm waiting for your permission now. Once upon a time, a boy named... Yes or no? You're going to do what you want to do. No, only if you want me to do it. Are you ready? Once upon a time, a boy named Isaac worked really hard and saved up enough money to buy a house. The house he bought

had a beautiful, finished basement, but Isaac didn't need all that space. He didn't have any kids

or even a girlfriend.

One second. Is it a true story?

Can you just follow along? Okay. I have many questions already.

The fact that Isaac couldn't keep a girlfriend is a whole different story that we're not getting

into today. So back to the story. Isaac couldn't keep a girlfriend is a whole different story that we're not getting into today.

So back to the story. Isaac decided to make some extra money by renting out his basement.

But the people who moved in never paid him a dime. When the sink leaked, he had it fixed. When the door creaked and the non-paying

renters complained, he fixed that too. Now, not only did he have the mortgage of the house to pay for and the insurance, he was also spending a lot of time and energy on maintenance. But because this is a parable, Isaac never evicted them. Hold your thoughts. Many, many questions. And even more than that, he could hear them. He heard their alarm while he was making his coffee. He heard their TV when he came home from work. So he had a constant reminder that they were there rent-free. Isaac was annoyed from this from the time he woke up in the morning until the time he went to sleep. This couldn't be allowed to go on, right? Absolutely. Nope. The freeloaders lived in Isaac's basement to this very day.

Today we're going to talk about how we're not all that much different than Isaac. Do you see where

I'm going, Michael? I think I do, yes. Because we've many questions, I won't raise them right now.

Because we all have freeloaders that we let live inside our thoughts. They take up space,

sap our resources, and don't give us anything

of value in return. Who are these freeloaders, you may be asking? Doubts and grudges,

just to name a few. If the bad news is that we're all prone to letting these freeloaders

...