It’s Only a Thought

If you have been reading this blog for a while, you know I am a man of logic. I am a network engineer by training and a compliance manager by trade. I trust data. I trust evidence. I trust things I can measure.

My partner, Angela, operates on a different frequency. She is deeply connected to the spiritual world - Reiki, Feng Shui, smudging. Usually, these are two very different languages. But last Wednesday evening, those languages translated perfectly.

The Power of Thought

We were doing an "affirmation" session using a deck of Power Thought Cards by Louise Hay. As I was shuffling - skeptical but willing - a single card literally jumped out of the deck. I turned it over, and the text hit me harder than any scientific paper I have read in years.

It read: "It's only a thought, and a thought can be changed."

And on the back, a mantra: "I am not limited by any past thinking. I choose my thoughts with care. I constantly have new insights and new ways of looking at my world. I am willing to change and grow."

In that moment, the room went quiet for me. I didn't just hear the words of Louise Hay. I felt a distinct, undeniable sense of my brother, who passed away from colon cancer 12 years ago. It wasn't a ghost story. It was a feeling - a "knowing." It felt like he was standing there, smiling, telling me: "It is finally time to let go of the past. You don't have to carry it anymore."

My late brother, John Mogensen

The Science of "Letting Go"

As a scientist at heart, how do I process this? I realized that what the spiritual community calls "Affirmation," the scientific community calls Neuroplasticity and Cognitive Reframing.

For decades, I believed my past defined me. I believed my "Fixer" complex, my grief, and my guilt were structural load-bearing walls in my personality. But the card is right. They aren't walls. They are just thoughts.

A thought is simply a neural pathway - a groove worn into the brain by repetition.

"I am broken" is a thought.
"I must save everyone" is a thought.
"I am guilty for surviving" is a thought.

The Engineering Fix

The profound realization was this: A thought is not a fact. A fact is "Gravity exists." A thought is "I am heavy." Facts are immutable. Thoughts are editable.

If I wrote a line of computer code that caused a glitch, I wouldn't say, "Well, that code is part of the computer's soul now." I would just rewrite the line. Why do we treat our brains differently?

The Takeaway

"I am willing to change and grow." That is one of the hardest sentences for a man in his 50s to say. We like our patterns. We feel safe in our history, even if that history hurts.

But today, and tomorrow, and all the tomorrows ahead of me, I am choosing to believe the card. I am not limited by my past thinking. I can honor my brother not by carrying the weight of the past, but by embracing the lightness of the future. It is, after all, only a thought. And I have the power to change it.

The Dinner Four-mula

Universal Meal Frameworks I have always found traditional recipes a bit stressful. They often feel like rigid scripts that demand very specific ingredients ("1 tsp of fresh tarragon"), and if you don't have that specific item, it feels like you can't make the dish. If you aren't confident with substitutes, you panic, close the cookbook, and order takeout. I've moved away from cooking with strict recipes. Now, I cook with Frameworks . Think of a framework as a flexible blueprint. It allows you to swap out ingredients based on what you have in the fridge without ruining the meal. When I look at a fridge full of random groceries, I don't see "nothing to eat"—I see possibilities waiting to be slotted into a plan. Here are the 4 Universal Meal Frameworks I use to cook 90% of my meals . Framework 1: The "Skillet Smash" (The Keto Answer to Stir-Fries and Pasta) This is my solution for busy nights. It is fast, uses high heat, and relies on a ...

"Are you sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin."

"Hello There" My name is Chris. I'm 53 as I write this in October of 2025, and I'm a gamer, a golfer, and a guy who's been (and continues to be) on a serious health journey. After losing and then gaining over 190 pounds and facing significant cardiac events, I thought I was doing everything right by following a 'keto' diet. I was wrong. I discovered I was eating 'dirty keto'—my 'health foods' were full of inflammatory oils, hidden starches, and artificial sweeteners that were working against me. 'The Path is Too Deep' is my personal blog about ditching the marketing and discovering the power of a Clean, Anti-Inflammatory, Whole-Food Ketogenic Lifestyle. I'll be sharing what I've learned about reading labels, my ongoing journey with weight loss, my strategies for managing mental health (ADHD/dysthymia), and my thoughts on gaming, golf, and technology. It's my personal rulebook for taking back control. "Not all those...

We're In The Endgame Now

In video games, there is usually a clear "End Game." You defeat the final boss, the loot drops, the credits roll, and you put the controller down. You won. In diet culture, we are sold the same fantasy. We are told that if we just "hit our goal weight" - that magical number on the scale - we have crossed the finish line. We imagine a ticker-tape parade where we are handed a trophy that says "Thin Person," and then we go back to "normal." I am here to tell you, from painful, personal experience: There is no finish line. I have "won" the weight loss game before. I lost 190 pounds . I hit the number. I bought the new wardrobe. And then, slowly, silently, and catastrophically, I gained it all back plus interest. Why? Because I treated my health like a project with a deadline, instead of a business with ongoing operations. I thought I was "done." As I rebuild my body at 53, I am not training for a finish line. I am training for the...

The Path is Too Deep

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