Rumination – Are You Chewing On Negativity?

Believe the Best – Breaking the Cycle of Rumination

Hey friends,

Rumination is that mental habit of chewing on the same thoughts over and over, like a cow chewing cud. Stanford University says up to 90% of our daily thoughts are repetitive—and if most are negative, we trap ourselves in a loop of fear, anxiety, and worst-case scenarios. It’s no wonder research shows rumination prolongs and deepens depression. Depending on which statistic you take for how many thoughts you have in a day, if you do the math you could be entertaining 17.5 million negative thoughts a year. Oooof! That’s not good!

The gross thing about rumination is that the cow doesn’t just chew the cud over and over, it also regurgitates it back into its mouth after it’s already swallowed it a few times! We need to break the cycle of negative thoughts by limiting exposure to toxic inputs and refusing to rehearse negative scenarios again and again. Let’s not be puking up these thoughts on repeat. They’re going to leave a nasty taste in your life.

It’s not about denying reality; it’s about choosing not to feed negativity. Instead, we learn to meditate on the truth of God’s Word—promises that foster hope, peace, and faith.

Question: Where do you see rumination playing out in your life, and what’s one step you can take to interrupt it?

With hope,

Em