Nineteen-year old Liu Shih-Kun was an esteemed concert pianist in China till the Cultural Revolution banned all things of Western influence. Refusing to renounce his beloved music, Liu was deemed an enemy of the people, beaten and imprisoned. There he languished in a tiny cell with no books, no paper, and even worse—no piano.

Six years later, for propaganda reasons, he played in Beijing with the Philadelphia Orchestra. After years without an instrument to practice on, he performed brilliantly, and eighteen months later, when he was finally released, he again played flawlessly.

That Liu survived is remarkable; that his hands continued to move as if they’d never stopped playing is amazing. His secret? Stripped of everything musical for seven and a half years, Liu disciplined himself to shut out negative thoughts and practice hour after hour on an imaginary piano.

A well respected counselor says, “We don’t realize the extent to which our own thinking contributes to our mental anguish. The earlier you stop ‘thought attacks.’ the easier it is to regroup and get back on track. Now, while the concept is simple, it’s not easy to implement. Once you start paying attention you’ll probably discover you have a lot more “thought attacks” than you can possibly imagine.”

Police shout “freeze” when they want to stop a suspect and protect themselves, and you can freeze out harmful thinking by capturing every thought and making it obedient to you. This is not a wrestling match against a human opponent. We are wrestling with the thinking of the world. Your thoughts have power. To win over them, you must submit your mind over and control what you allow your mind to dwell on.