“Every good thing begins with one positive thought.” ~Bryant Mcgill
Do you realize any small, minuscule, infinitesimal positive thoughts you entertain in your head could lead to great things in your life? Our thoughts build on themselves, adding momentum to whatever you create. They remind me of being a kid and building a snowman. You start with a small round ball that easily fits in the hands of the smallest of children. Then you put it on the ground covered in snow and roll it along. The ball will grow in size as long as you can find the power to push it along. Soon you have created a snowball that is so big it is difficult to pick up. You need three of these snowballs to create a decent snowman. carefully placing each on top of the other and decorating it in the fashion you choose
That is the way of our thoughts. As we move them around, they collect more of the same charge of energy you used to create it, and soon your little thought has transformed into an action, which can be duplicated by others, and soon it can’t be stopped. You are the potential catalyst for all good things that happen in the world, and of course, you can be a part of the negative aspects. We each decide how our thoughts will infect the world around us in every small moment. Does the snowman you are building wear a smile or a frown?
Positive Thinking
Like a snowball rolling down a hill, your positive thought can grow to enormous size! Choose your small thoughts carefully. They can destroy or create the world.
So what does it mean to have to think more positively? Every second of each day, there is a choice that all people have regarding the thoughts they entertain. I have heard the average person has about 70,000 thoughts a day. Our minds are constantly creating ideas, opinions, and interpretations based on our experience in the world. Thinking positively is a choice somebody has to make; we all choose this course, or we choose to be negative. It isn’t anybody else’s fault. You choose the thoughts of love over fear, and you are on your way to a positive mind frame.
To be more specific about these choices, there are choices of love over hate, laughter over crying, creating over destroying, perseverance over quitting, praise rather than gossip, healing thoughts and actions over those that hurt another or yourself, giving rather than taking, action over procrastination, growth over stagnation, or choose to live rather than to exist. Each favorable decision will allow for your energy to grow in either direction. Positive or negative, it is all up to you, and the most minor positive thought can lead to at least one small good thing. As with all things, there is a possibility of growth, just like the snowball. This can be created in either direction, again chosen by you alone.
What Are You Growing Today?
So the challenge for you today is to look at the thoughts you are entertaining. Where do they fall on the chart, positive or negative? Our thoughts lead to words that lead to actions that lead to the reality we are experiencing. Look at your thoughts critically and ask: Is this a thought I would like to grow? If it isn’t, it is time to make a different choice. Our future is created in every choice of thought we make today, at this moment.
We are responsible for the reality we create through our thoughts and our personal energy. Are your snowballs made of white clean snow containing all of life’s potential? Or do they contain the dirt and grime of negative thoughts brought on by negativity? Life is created through energy, and you, yes, you, play a part in charge of the energy around you in your life and how others in your life experience because of you. Positive attracts positive, and negative attracts the same. So the snowball you hold in your hand at the beginning will determine the type of snowman you are left with at the end. You are responsible for that in all moments of your life. What are you building? Watch your thoughts.
Every good thing begins with one positive thought. Keep in mind that the reverse is also true.
“Change your thoughts, and you can change your world.” –Norman Vincent Peale
“There is only one corner of the universe, you can be certain of improving, and that’s your own self.” –Aldous Huxley.
“The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.” –Alice Walker.
“You, and only you, are ultimately responsible for who you become and how happy you are.” –Rachel Hollis.
“If you say you can or you can’t, you are right either way.” –Henry Ford
What is the difference between living and existing?
When you look back on your life, will you remember the times you decided not to try and stretch yourself and accepted what life had given you?
Or will you think back on the moments where you gave it your best effort and either exceeded all expectations or failed miserably?
Either way, you were fully engaged in the process of finding what you were made of. I believe that much of the difference between living and just existing stems from this search to measure ourselves.
What Am I Made Of
Most people never push themselves past the level that they have to. If everything was just handed to a person, they have no appreciation for what they have and soon lose it.
Or, at the very least, turn it into something unhappy and undesirable. In most people, there is a drive to find out what we are made of. How much lies beneath the surface? Am I the greatest? or Am I just a weak comparison for talent?
All of these questions quite naturally come to our minds. If you have everything you need and do not feel the need to test yourself, I believe that is part of existing. To live, an awareness and appreciation come to a person when they see the connections between themselves and the rest of the world and try to show them through their art or actions. That is when you are living.
Living in The Moment
It is still difficult to explain and experience for me, but life makes sense when I can get into the moment I exist. Food tastes better, happiness is more profound, and awareness of the world around me is at an apex. Sometimes I daydream and push myself back into the moment and wonder why it is a constant struggle to get there.
If you don’t know what I mean by living in the moment, then you have never had much exciting happening in your life, and it is simply appreciating all the sensations that are happening around you all the time.
Seeing a broader scope of life usually comes from looking at the world outside of yourself. When you worry about the future or entertain regrets about the past, you live in a fantasy world that does not benefit you today.
The past is gone and can’t come back again; tomorrow may never come. All you have is the moment right now. When you enjoy that moment, you will see what I mean. All of the experiences of life are there for you. This, I believe, is living rather than just existing.
Love Not Fear
There are two sides to the coin here love and fear. They are opposite but close together; if you are not careful, one can turn into the other. When you are living, you are experiencing feelings of love. Happiness, kindness, acceptance, or forgiveness come from this emotion. If you are constantly living, it is a fear that has infiltrated your life.
When you are afraid of being hurt, in one way or another, there is no way to live in the moment, or at least it is difficult because, in reality, you would rather be anywhere else than worry about being hurt. Often, what we fear doesn’t even exist, and it is just a possibility.
This usually stems from some self-created thoughts surrounding make-believe circumstances where who or what we love is taken away from us. These fears can manifest into pretty powerful things if you are not careful. The concern we create works to take us out of the moment and away from living the life we are capable of living, leaving us with the ability to exist in fear. When it comes to a choice between love and fear, choose to love.
I believe that it is much better to live than to exist, and we can choose how we experience our lives by what we focus our attention on.
What do you think is the difference between living and existing?
Success is something all people aspire to. It is the signal that our efforts have allowed us to move forward to achieving the things we want in our lives. Accomplishments could be personal or professional, but one of the best ways to guide yourself toward success is to ask yourself the right questions about how you are progressing each day. This process is a shift in consciousness for most people. Either you are drifting on a river going where life takes you, or you are steering your raft toward your success. The paddle you drive is the question you ask yourself. It starts with a conscious awareness of your thoughts, emotions, words, and actions to pursue your desired purpose and issues that will take you there.
Why Questions Build Success
Questions are a tool that can change your whole focus in your day. Asking the right questions will provide focus and direction for a day. There is a reason you should question yourself. First, an item will immediately change your attention, and changing that focus to a goal will bring answers to you. What can I do today to help move me closer to a dream, purpose, or objective? Where focus goes, energy flows.
What action can I take to become wealthier today? What things can I do to build better relationships? What activities will make me happy today? Each question will focus on that thing, and even if you don’t know for sure what to do, suggestions will come to your mind—usually a lot of them. Then you can whittle them down to the ones you feel are valuable to your growth path. Often the first ones that come to your mind are pretty poignant. It is good to be open to all options and not dismiss potential answers automatically. Weigh your focused suggestions carefully, then choose the best actions. Of course, to accomplish anything and use those questions, your answers need to be followed up with actions. Work makes everything happen.
Success May Come From Deleting Information
Another significant side effect of asking the right questions and honestly seeking an answer is your focus tends to cut through the opposition you might have to a goal. You may have to make changes, and with change comes risk. Risk of failure, risk of learning, and most importantly, a chance of what others will think of most people. A good question will get you to focus on what you want and delete what you don’t want.
What can I stop doing that hinders my success? What things prevent me from accomplishing my goals? Answer these questions and delete those barriers from your life, and you will be on your way to success. Identifying the situations, actions, and people that hold you back allows you to stay clear of these things and work toward accomplishing the aim or purpose you seek. How can this work for you? That answer is up to you and the actions that result from your solution.
It Won’t Always be Easy.
Of course, the journey toward your success will not always be comfortable, but using the right questions can also help you navigate any rough waters you encounter. We are not born with all the knowledge and skills we need to accomplish some things. The education we need often comes from experience, and those experiences may seem complicated and unwanted. For example, losing a job for any reason can be tough to deal with one’s life. But along with that change comes opportunity.
Where is the opportunity here I am not seeing? What can I do now things are changing? What can I learn from this? How can I turn this around? Any of these questions will bring answers to guide you. All situations provide information and use them to learn and grow. What other positive choices do you have? Questions can reveal the resources available to you and improve your outlook, production, and performance in your life.
Success is a matter of the Right Questions.
Learning to develop a definite pattern of questions for yourself can help build a consistent tool to empower you to overcome obstacles and reach the successes you desire to experience in your life. The items will steer your focus toward solutions and away from the distractions and self-pity our minds often provide. Look consciously at your goals and what is stopping you from reaching them today.
Make the conscious choice to see the possibilities in your challenges, leading you toward your goals and desires. It all begins with a focus on the thoughts you entertain, the emotions they elicit, the words you use to express them, and the actions you take. Your success today may be one good question away.
“It is not the answer that enlightens, but the question.” – Eugene Ionesco
“The key to wisdom is this – constant and frequent questioning, for by doubting, we are led to question, by questioning we arrive at the truth.” – Peter Abelard
“A prudent question is one-half of wisdom.” – Francis Bacon
Does Anybody Know What Time It Is? – the musical question only you can answer for success today.
Fear– an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat.
It is often believed that hate is the opposite of love, but that isn’t true. Fear is the opposite of love. Fear is an emotion that stems from beliefs that a situation will cause pain. All things are a choice between love and Fear. To try something you have a passion for, or not give it a go because you are afraid of failure or looking silly or not perfect. The most significant blocks to achievement are the thoughts of Fear, and the purpose of this post is to raise your consciousness about your fears and what they are stopping you from enjoying, accomplishing, or believing.
It all begins by being aware of your thoughts of Fear. They stem from beliefs you have accepted in your mind as undeniably true. They lead to emotions of Fear, words of Fear, and actions based on Fear. You can turn all of it around because Fear is just a thought that you can disregard as quickly as it can be accepted. That is our challenge today. Please find what you are afraid of and then learn how to overcome it. Simple task, right? Afraid not!!
Kinder Self-Talk is the First Step
There is a voice in our minds that talks to us continually. It suggests judges, states, encourages, or discourages us in all situations we face in life. The tenor of that voice has a lot to do with the level of self-esteem we enjoy. If that voice is kind, encouraging, and supportive, then your confidence will be higher, and Fear will be less of a problem. If that voice is negative, discouraging, worried, or judgmental, Fear will have an easy time controlling you. But it can all change.
Our ways don’t exist in stone. Changing the tone of our inner dialogue can happen just by becoming aware of the sound and choosing to change it. Notice how you speak to yourself when you see yourself in a mirror, when you face a challenge or when you think of those you care about. If that voice is negative, recognize it, and refuse to accept it. If you don’t expect yourself to be kind to yourself, it isn’t easy to assume that treatment from others. You are a unique human being with a wellspring of potential to do all sorts of things. See it, make a choice, and pursue it. The self-esteem you accept from yourself will determine your success more often than not. Don’t fear yourself.
Face Your Fear
As children, many are afraid of darkness at night. It is a thought of what might be hiding in the dark that scared us. Once we turned on the light, those fears were eventually let go. There was no monster under the bed, but there is always one in your head. That monster is Fear. That monster is there to tell you: “You can’t do that!” “You will look stupid!” “You have no talent in that area.”, “You will fail!” or any other negative comment you can think of. This hurdle is the monster of Fear in your head, and it is all just a thought.
The cure for Fear is to turn the light of experience on it. Once you shine a light on that Fear, it will lose its power, and you can move past it. So facing Fear is decisive for your confidence and self-esteem. Understanding the difference between danger and anxiety is essential. Danger can hurt you, and it is natural, tangible, and needs to be taken with precaution. Fear is the thought of things that might or might not happen ever. Shine a light on your Fear by facing them. Understanding that this can be very difficult to do, confidence rises inside that will help you meet and overcome more significant fears once it is done. Once the mindset is created that Fear is just a thought, and you can overcome it, what can stop you from doing anything?
Never Fear Mistakes
I have learned in life that people will make choices that lead to pain and suffering of one sort or another. These are viewed as mistakes in hindsight. But are they? All options cause actions, and these actions lead to results. How you weigh them is a point of view. Good, bad, tremendous, or horrible. It is the value you assign to the experience that gives it its value. As a society, we have been conditioned to fear making a mistake.
In school, we were graced by the number of mistakes we made and labeled by our school because of them. If a person never tried anything new and only stuck to what they mastered, they would never make mistakes, and they would never evolve or grow either. To truly learn, a person has to throw their whole self into the process. Create a theory, try it out, evaluate your results, adjust your opinion until you find success. Mistakes are a part of learning, and to fear them is unnatural. The more you shine a light on errors, the more you will see them for what they are, opportunities.
Nothing to Fear But Fear Itself
One of the most powerful, simple, and actual lines Franklin Roosevelt ever spoke. Fear is the only thing we have to fear in life. It was expressed at the time of the great depression when people were panicking in Fear that the country would collapse. It wasn’t what was happening that scared everybody, and it was the thought about what might happen that hurt them.
This practice is the way it is in life. If you are in a situation, you deal with it. You handle it. It may not be pleasant, but you will live. Then the thought about that thing happening again is the thing that haunts you. Your imagination is excellent at making up dark fantasies about bad things happening. The idea is these are not real, and the Fear of them is being afraid of a thought. It is fearful of Fear itself. Don’t let the fear of what might happen run your life and make decisions for you.
Fear Factor
Take a moment today, look at what scares you, and ask yourself why? Is it the danger of the situation, or are you letting an irrational thought get the best of you? Evaluate all of your dreams on their fear factor. Is there a real danger here, or is it a fear of what might happen? Look at your physical reaction to this emotionally. Look at the things that you want to say because of it. Observe how your actions are affected by it. This is becoming conscious of how Fear affects you and is, in effect, shining your light on the monsters under your bed. Taking action is always the cure for Fear.
“If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment.”- Marcus Aurelius
“Fear is the main source of superstition, and one of the main sources of cruelty. To Conquer Fear is the beginning of wisdom.”-Bertrand Russell
“Fears are educated into us, and can if we wish, be educated out.”-Karl Augustus Menninger
One of the most common blocks people face in accomplishing their goals is worrying about what others think of your choices, behaviors, or talents. How often have you stopped doing something because you didn’t want to look foolish or be ridiculed by someone else?
This is a limiting thought that can be easily changed if you start to focus on what you are doing and forget what others might be thinking about it. You will enjoy life a whole lot more and find success as well. There are several simple reasons that this is true.
Most Don’t Think Of You Anyway.
The criticism we imagine is mainly located solely in our imaginations. People are too involved in their drama of life to pay attention to your decisions for the most part. Want to start a business? Do it and if someone confronts you with questions, tell them you appreciate their point of view and move on with your plan.
We come by this fear naturally. As young people, we find that learning to fit in with the crowd’s expectations makes sense. We don’t get picked on, and life is much more comfortable. But there is a point where successful people put fear aside and worry about how they feel and what they are doing rather than the often misguided judgments of others. I know that it is the fear of what someone might think that has stopped me. Not even the honest thoughts of a person but my thoughts about what I thought they might be. It seems silly to carry fear for someone else’s feelings.
A Reflection on Them
If they are thinking something negative about you, there is a problem with them, not a problem with you. So many people are stuck in their choices that they see their limitations when they see someone trying something different or reaching for success. This is not a pretty sight, so many critics will shoot you down to avoid looking at their failure. If everyone is mired in mediocrity, they won’t feel bad about their inability to pursue their dream.
Anyone who criticizes someone else for seeking to improve themselves in any way is showing their own limiting beliefs. All people choose what they stand for, and being a limiting influence on anyone is letting fear dictate your behavior. What if you fail? What if they fail? What if they look funny? What if…….. These words can haunt an empty life. So what if you fail? You will learn, and learning those lessons may be the missing piece you need to achieve your dreams.
Don’t Play Small
The moral here is not to play the small game that suits you. How do I know? There is something in you that is great and waiting to come out and contribute to the world. The lessons that you will learn along the way will help steer you toward your best self. Honestly, do you think you were put here on this Earth not to succeed? Of course, you were made for success, and letting what someone else might think stop you from doing what you want is playing at your most minor. Play the big game that you were meant to represent.
The world is full of critics who are generally unhappy people who have decided not to find their purpose. The internet is a whole of negative people who seek out the creative work of others only to write negative comments about it and diminish them. These people should get all the attention they deserve, none at all. Ignore the naysayers and feel sorry for them. They are stuck playing a game of ego and separation. They need your kindness more than anyone else.
“The eyes of others our prisons; their thoughts our cages.” ― Virginia Woolf
“You have no responsibility to live up to what other people think you ought to accomplish. I have no responsibility to be like they expect me to be. It’s their mistake, not my failing.” ― Richard P. Feynman
“Care about what other people think, and you will always be their prisoner.”—Lao Tzu
“I do not care so much what I am to others as I care what I am to myself.” ― Michel de Montaigne
All situations in life can break down into simple choices. Will you think and act out of fear? Or will you believe and work out of love?
I believe EVERYTHING you think will make a difference in your life and come with emotions attached, which affect your decision-making. I believe this because of a lifetime of experience and entertaining the wrong types of thoughts. I lived much of my life under the influence of fear but have chosen to make a change and look at things with feelings of love. No small endeavor, but I encourage all others to attempt to do the same.
How You Think Leads to How You Live
This article is about the fundamental belief that I have developed in my game of life. If you are thinking judgmental, mean, sarcastic, or hateful thoughts about other people or groups of people, there is no doubt that you will experience those things in your own experience.
These are negative thoughts that lead to unhappy experiences
If you choose to focus on accepting, kind, and loving thoughts, then that will be the overall experience of your existence. How do I know? I used to think the former and now try to focus on the latter, and although I am the same person, the experience of life has been entirely different and much more positive and enjoyable in all ways.
Fear is the chief motivation of those who are critical. A person rejects any thought or action that will lead to change or be different from comfortable beliefs. Even if things are currently going poorly, people avoid change because they fear that changes might make things even worse.
There is nothing wrong with experiencing fear itself because fear gives you adrenaline and or motivation to act. Still, if you focus on and allow it to move your actions from day-to-day, your experience will suffer from negative energy. We all face fear every day, but it is how you deal with it that matters. Each moment comes down to this simple choice between fear and love, the one you choose will define your life and you as a person.
Change is Always Possible
The most daunting task for anyone to accomplish is to change the way that you think. We have spent a lifetime accumulating experiences that come along with mental programming, which has managed to keep us safe and alive. But it also can make us unhappy and not allow us to reach our capabilities.
Yet, at some point, even though we are safe and alive, the quality of our life needs value. Once you start to pursue happiness and caring, you notice what has been making you unhappy. What is it that makes you hang your head with worry? What makes you afraid to speak? What makes you hide your individuality? What makes you disappear who you are? Fear.
Fear that you won’t be accepted, or fear that someone will take something from you that you love. Fear that someone is going to harm you or those that you care about can hurt you. The mainstream media feed these fears to gain ratings and Madison Avenue to earn consumer dollars.
The reality is that fear is just a thought and an illusionary thought at that. What you are afraid of is not accurate, it is a thought, and that is it. What if? What should? What Might? Questions that provide these thoughts; are not real they don’t exist, yet they offer genuine suffering for people. Your thoughts about things are the cause of most of our issues. Change your thoughts, and many of our problems go away.
There are many dangers in the world, and those should be avoided because they can hurt you, but fear of them will only stop you from doing what you want and becoming the best you can be. Fear limits you and destroys dreams.
Getting Out of Fear
Beliefs are merely thoughts that you choose every day to add weight to.
Getting rid of fear in your thoughts is simple, but it is not easy.
Stop thinking fearful things. Now that would be easy to control all of our thoughts, but you really can’t.
Thoughts pop into your mind at a rapid pace, representing your lifetime of experience. Bias, prejudice, hatred, fear are all a part of your knowledge, and they are all associated with others.
You can’t stop them from popping into your mind, but you can control how much you pay attention to them. Simply noticing the thoughts of fear as what they are fake surprisingly releases you from their power. All of their power over you comes from inside your head and the thoughts you choose to give power to. Let the negative go and replace them with something more positive. The human mind is only capable of entertaining one idea at a time. If your thought is positive, so will your mood, actions, and life.
Replace thoughts of fear with thoughts of love
Once you recognize and admit your worries and let them go, it is incredible how easy the right ideas and feelings flow. It feels better to be happy, healthier to love, and more enjoyable to live without fear.
It takes time, and you have to be honest with yourself. Recognizing your weaknesses can be painful and challenging, but you have a simple choice here. Choose caring over callousness, kindness over being mean, understanding over judgment. Keep living your life in fear and be unhappy or admit to your negative thoughts and recognize that you can just let them go and think differently.
The choice is up to you! Nobody else can make it for you.
“Fear and love can never be experienced at the same time. It is always our choice as to which of these emotions we want.”- Gerald Jampolsky
“Love and fear represent two different lenses through which to view the world. Which I choose to use will determine what I think I see.”-Marianne Williamson
“Love is what we were born with. Fear is what we learned here.”- Marianne Williamson
“There are two basic motivating forces: fear and love. When we are afraid, we pull back from life. When we are in love, we open to all that life has to offer with passion, excitement, and acceptance. We need to learn to love ourselves first, in all our glory and our imperfections. If we cannot love ourselves, we cannot fully open to our ability to love others or our potential to create. Evolution and all hopes for a better world rest in the fearlessness and open-hearted vision of people who embrace life.”- John Lennon
Many problems come from the illusion of separation that people have been taught throughout life. Almost from birth, we are introduced to group people and label them based on arbitrary measures. Separation by race, religion, region, economics, or any other action is designed to create an identity, but they only build walls between people. Security is a big reason for this. Where you fit in, you are safe, but later it can be attached to a person’s self-worth and value. We are not separate; we are connected. The truth is that we are far more connected than we are different. Eliminate the separations between us, and the world will be a much more functional place.
Keep Learning and Growing
The more you learn and understand people, the more difficult it is to put a fence between you. At our core, we are all the same, and we have a soul, emotions, thoughts, and the capacity to love. Each person is blessed with the same essential functions. In this manner, we are all identical and connected.
Circumstances are different, and it is the circumstances that we tend to focus on. Fear makes people look for differences to make themselves feel more secure, self-assured, or successful. All of this is an illusion. Your success or failure is determined by your thoughts, actions, and perseverance in life. The external factors are arbitrary and have nothing to do with life’s joys or sorrows. We are connected in our humanity, wholly and unquestionably.
Behavior Alone Defines You
It is your behavior that is going to define who you are to yourself and the world. Your words can spin many stories, but your actions tell the truth of what you believe. If you look at the world as separate and look down on people because of broad labels, that shows a lack of growth. Racism is one of these things. Suppose a person judges another based on skin color that clearly defines him and nobody else. People use the perception of separation to manipulate behavior.
The same can be said for political labels, nationalistic or geographic separations. All of the barriers that we create to separate are built on fear and fear alone. Watch the national media, really watch them. Their message is based almost solely on fear. This message is given to control you. The way you think and the actions of our leaders that you will accept. Listen and learn. Messages of love are accurate; statements of fear are false. Listen to the message.
Fear or Love
Like many things in life, separation comes down to a simple choice between love and fear. Love expands, accepts, understands, and makes things better, while fear does the opposite, retracts, rejects, judges, and makes things worse. As individuals, we are responsible for our thoughts and our personal growth throughout life. You are not done, at 22 when you graduate college. Learning and growth are lifelong duties.
Some look at the world and see a collection of frightening problems, but others look at the same place and see the beautiful possibilities. Which type of person are you? We are all in this together, and we can spend our time fighting and fretting over our perceived differences. Or we can spend the short time we have in life enjoying our experience and erring on the side of love.
Staying balanced in life can be difficult. Sometimes there seems to be no rhyme or reason why things happen, and dealing with sudden, quick changes entering our reality makes it hard to understand if there is something we should or could be doing better. In the end, shouldn’t we be happy? Shouldn’t our daily routines and struggles bring us personal satisfaction and make us feel valued as individuals? I think that it should, and one way to do this is to practice positive thinking. But what exactly does that mean?
In a nutshell, the thoughts you entertain will dictate your reality and the enjoyment or discomfort you experience in each moment. The feeling you give credence will bring a corresponding emotional response, words, and actions into your life. Format your thoughts in a way that the results will be what you want. If you can’t control your mind and thoughts, someone or something else will.
What Positive Thinking Means To Me
We all have programming in our subconscious mind determined by our experiences. It takes our reality and interprets it in a way that makes sense to us and fits into what we know. The thoughts produced from this are automatic and consistent and will dictate everything in our lives. From the amount of success we have, the money we earn, and the love we have in life. Our ability to change these often negative thoughts into more positive ones is our number one weapon in creating the life we dream about every day.
Remember, your experience conditions your subconscious when you look at your past and draw conclusions about your abilities and worthiness. What you believe determines your ceiling of creative ability in your life. Until you choose to change, that choice is positive thinking. In each moment, you can think in a more constructive and caring way about yourself. The decision to do this will allow you to grow. From what I have read, most of these conditioning experiences happen early on in life, but all of life’s adventures can add to it. Learning to recognize and ignore the negative comments from your past is the key to positive thinking to me and the catalyst for growth.
It’s Not a Cover-Up
We all make choices that we know weren’t good. I know I have, and in hindsight, I can’t believe how foolish and thoughtless some decisions were. What was I thinking? I used to beat myself up all the time about these choices, and they were a part of my daily existence. A choice is a choice and to learn from the result is the desired experience. If your choice was wrong, forgive yourself. The decision may have hurt someone else, apologize, and ask for forgiveness.
Positive thinking does not mean to forget or overlook these negative/poor choices. It is a way to put them into proper perspective. Accept that these things happened, then leave them in the past where they belong because no amount of second-guessing, longing, or fantasy replay in your head will change what happened in the past. But if you choose not to learn from it and seek a better future, then you are a fool. Positive thinking is knowing that you have the ability for growth and development. Pursue it and find questions leading to your growth. You can control the thoughts you think about any situation and experience. This choice doesn’t mean to sugarcoat things or ignore the negative, but deal with it and see the positives that can come from it.
Find A Positive Thought
I think that there are two schools of thought and emotion. They come from a place of love or a residence of fear. Fear brings hate, doubt, anger, jealousy, resentment, lies, inferiority, and ego. You can imagine that love brings with it peace, understanding, empathy, sympathy, kindness, hope, truth, and, of course, love.
Positive thinking embraces the thoughts of love and limits the attention you give to the ideas of fear. This consciousness doesn’t mean that you don’t have them because we all do. Someone makes you mad or treats you poorly, and the thoughts of fear will arise. You will always have a choice at this point, let them rule your actions, or recognize them, experience them, and don’t let them rule your actions. You are always in control of your thoughts if you choose to be. It starts with your conscious awareness of what you are thinking and where the view is coming from. Anger is the open face of fear. It is a natural warning system to let everyone know you are experiencing anxiety on some level. Passion means your needs aren’t being met, or you are afraid they won’t be.
You can manage these thoughts by focusing on theories of understanding, empathy, and love. That is your choice always.
Seek Another Positive Thought
When I started to realize that I could entertain whatever thought I wanted, it changed the way I looked at the world and the people in it. The power of knowing I was in charge of how I felt was a little overwhelming. It made me want to learn more because experiencing life through this lens was much more fulfilling and enjoyable. Even if a little unnerving.
This learning led to more social experiments, and finding the reaction of others is almost always a mirror of the emotions you show to them. Strangers smile and are friendly when you extend friendship. People appreciate you when you show them appreciation. It is not hard to look at what someone else does and enjoy the thought, time, and talent it took to create whatever it is. Being positive about life on a surface level is more natural than negative, and it makes the world a better place. Being positive below the surface takes a lot more work, but the results will be a life you truly enjoy and create.
Be Positive About Outcomes
It never ceases to amaze me that when something happens to you, good, bad, or neutral, almost always there is a path, the growth or development in front of you; all you have to do is take it. I have beat myself up and ridiculed myself for years about decisions in my past, only to realize I was wasting my time because of those things set in motion circumstances that greatly benefited me in the end. I also realized that those benefits would have never been able to occur in any other way.
When we relax and let events play out, and accept what is happening, we can achieve greatness. This letting go doesn’t mean we are off the hook on taking action because we always have a choice, and we can act. Don’t be afraid to respond, but understand that your activity may end up in failure, but that failure may be the step you need to take to reach the highest potential that you have inside you. It can be in creativity, your career, or your relationships.
You Are Great. There is Really Nothing You Can Do About it!
Now it is time to stop blaming yourself for the past. You made choices, you took your throws, and it didn’t turn out how you hoped. Accept it, learn from it, and move on to the rest of your life. You were not put on the Earth to let past programming dictate your ceiling of achievement. You are here to be great! Because you know what? You are fantastic, and there isn’t a damn thing you can do about it! It is a matter of adjusting your thoughts to reflect that reality to the world.
Everyone is born with greatness inside of them, and some easily find it. Some have to work harder because life is full of should haves, would haves, and could haves that will consume your mind. Regrets shouldn’t happen because I can’t even conceive of the level of greatness inside you. Only you can let it out. That is about all anyone can hope for in their life.
Be conscious of your thoughts, pursue the positive about yourself, and counteract the negative, limiting ones. The thoughts you think and react to are all up to you.
“You are the only one who can control the way you think. Make sure you nourish the positive thoughts and weed out the negative ones!” Catherine Pulsifer
“In essence, the bulk of our negative self-talk comes from adopting a worldly standard and worldly values as the primary standard through which we filter our thinking.” – John Stange.
“I’ve always believed that you can think positive just as well as you can think negative.” James A. Baldwin
“Over the ensuing years, it was my positive attitude that allowed me to tackle and complete and compete in many diverse assignments.” Catherine Pulsifer
“A major factor in determining how our lives turn out is the way we choose to think. Everything that goes on inside the human mind in the form of thoughts, ideas, and information forms our personal philosophy.” – Jim Rohn.
This song by Stevie Wonder is an excellent guide for positive thinking. Enjoy!
How to change thoughts- when one comes up, switch to the other.
I could never do that= I CAN DO THAT
I’m not smart enough= I AM INFINITELY INTELLIGENT, HAVE THE RESOURCES, AND WILL LEARN.
I’ll never be wealthy=I MUST BE WEALTHY!
I’m always sick= I FEEL GREAT
I’m too fat = I WANT TO BE FIT AND HAPPY
I’m unattractive =I AM BEAUTIFUL
I will fail= I’LL DO WHAT IT TAKES TO SUCCEED
I am a loser= I WILL WIN
I can’t be bothered=I AM UNLIMITED ENERGY
I’m too tired= I MUST DEMAND AN ENERGETIC STATE NOW
That’s Really bad= WHAT’S GREAT ABOUT THAT
That’s impossible= ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE
That’s really bad= WHAT IS GREAT ABOUT THIS?
I feel drained= I AM A POWERHOUSE
I can’t = I CAN
Maybe one day= I WILL MAKE THIS DAY
Hopefully= I’M CERTAIN
This is too hard= I LOVE A CHALLENGE
That’s a mistake= THANK YOU FOR THE LEARNING EXPERIENCE
What if …. = IT’S NOT HAPPENING NOW, DON’T WORRY IN ADVANCE
I should have= I DIDN’T, BUT I AM IN CONTROL OF MYSELF NOW, WHICH MEANS I CAN!!
In all that we do and all that we try to accomplish, a person must learn to deal with fear. Fear comes to you through a voice in your head, warning you to be careful how far you stretch yourself, or to watch out for the things you do, the thoughts you think, and the ideas you express. This voice in your head discourages you and minimizes your efforts and talents, all in the name of safety and comfort. One of the most freeing things I have learned is that fear is a liar. It lies to you about almost everything, and choosing fear will lessen your experience and stop you from achieving anything of consequence.
Nothing Great without some Risk
Was anything great ever accomplished without some form of risk? Would a man have walked on the moon if they listened to fear? On a personal level, it is no different. When you are considering a new endeavor, hobby, new job, or even thought, there will always be some level of fear to overcome.
What if you fail? What if you look bad trying? What if people don’t accept what you are doing? What if? What if???
Is there a more limiting question that fear provides than what if? It is designed solely to limit our willingness to try and to create doubt about our abilities. The lie that fear tells you is that things will go bad if you pursue a dream or a goal. There will be a risk in anything, but taking action is the most important thing we can do. Fear deters action. Fear of failure, fear of success, fear of the acceptance of others is all just limits on your potential. Fear is a liar.
Fear is a Liar to Stop you from Taking Action
Face your fears, and they will disappear
If you make an effort to achieve something, can there really be any failure? Taking action is going to create something. There are no guarantees as to what will be created, but something will result from your action. Taking no action will result in absolutely nothing.
Even if the results are not what you had envisioned initially, the result will belong to you, and the results are a known entity. When you don’t try, you never know what might have happened, and then the question of “What if…..” takes on a haunting meaning. Once you try something, you know of its validity and viability. There is a chance to adjust your sails and make your action more efficient in whatever you are trying to accomplish. Fear of failure will stop you from taking action and stop your success before getting off the ground.
Take Action Above All Else
So when you hear the voices of fear speaking to you, limiting your actions, learn to ignore it and take action anyway. Each action that you decide to take will lead to creating something that didn’t exist before.
Even if your action results in an initial setback, it still provides you with valuable information that you can use to take a more focused action next. As I see it, the only way a well-focused, thought-out action can be a negative is if you choose never to take action at all.
Fear is a liar whose goal is to limit your potential and lessen the experience you have in life. When you hear the voice of fear in your head, tighten your resolve, push ahead and take action anyway. Greatness will never be found by cowering to fear.
“Every good thing begins with one positive thought.” ~Bryant Mcgill
to words that lead to actions that lead to the reality we are experiencing. Look at your thoughts critically and ask: Is this a thought I would like to grow? If it isn’t, it is time to make a different choice. Our future is created in every choice of thought we make today, at this moment.
What is Positive Thinking?
