Tag Archives: Thought

Choosing Positive over Negative

March 24, 2018 Jonathan Hilton Leave a comment

One of the peculiar aspects of this human experience is that the content of our thoughts dictates how we feel about our experiences. When you focus thoughts on the positive then your feelings are generally positive and if negative things are in your thoughts when you feel anxiety, fear, other negative things. The thoughts we have about ourselves and others determine how happy we are in this moment, how fulfilling our relationships are and how we affect all those we come in contact with.

What you are thinking is caused by our environment. If something or someone in your life does something that moves you to the negative. Then you have a simple choice to make, deal with it honestly and then put it in the past. Dwelling on the negative thoughts such as jealousy, envy, fear, or judgment will inject your life with anxiety. Whereas focusing on positive thoughts of acceptance, kindness, understanding and love the result will be emotions and feelings that are supportive and positive. Our thoughts are the direct cause of our emotional state. We are in control of the thoughts we entertain at any moment, completely and without question. Remembering this can be difficult, but you can get a more positive feeling by letting the negative move out of your life.

The Opposite is Always Available

So how do you control the thoughts that you pay attention to? For all of the emotions we experience, they are all brought on by the series of thoughts we are focusing our attention on. If you are constantly degrading yourself and your abilities, it isn’t any wonder that you are depressed about your prospects and potential? It may be a subconscious choice, but you are choosing the thoughts that you are identifying with. The opposite thought and corresponding actions and emotions are always available to you. That is the power you always have available.

Think about the things that make a smile come to your face, and a smile will come. The mind has the ability to provide all that we need to feel happy, successful and complete. Or it can make you feel depressed, defeated and hopeless, there is only one person who decides which reality you are experiencing. You and your choice of thought. All directions are available in the carnival of life and you are the artist that chooses the colors that represent your interest and even the effect you have on your life and the lives of others.

Proactive Thought

Since our thoughts are such a big part of our lives, it would seem that we would guard them, protect them and be proactive about the ones you pay attention to. It can be easy to let others choose them for you in life. The media, our friends, our families or those we meet in passing can choose what is desirable to us. If you don’t watch your thoughts someone else will be dictating how you feel about yourself and the talent that you possess.

We all have talents of one sort or another and they provide something the world has never seen or considered. We each create a unique portrait for the world, even though society is constantly trying to make us all the same. You were not born to be small and the same, so don’t think small. You were born to live your life in your own unique way, bring your talent to the table and let others see it. The biggest limiting factor you will face is the critic in your own head that causes you to focus on negative thoughts of yours and others. If you choose to listen you will limit your experience and your consciousness. To expand these things and grow as a person, simply takes a change of focus.

The benefit of having a negative thought and emotional experience is that you can get a really clear picture of what you don’t want in your life, which will lead you to what you do want. Become adept at recognizing the thoughts that put you in a negative situation and which thoughts will bring you out of it. All of this is a result of paying attention to what you think. I choose the positive over the negative.

“Once you replace negative thoughts with positive ones, you’ll start having positive results.”- Willie Nelson

Personal Development

My First Reading List

March 14, 2018 Jonathan Hilton Leave a comment

reading list Jonathan Hilton — My Reading List

A reading list is quite important. Over my recent history, I have been on a mission of learning, a quest to improve myself and to understand why life works the way that it does. I wish that I knew the wisest man in the world, who could simply relay all of the vital information I need to know to me. Unfortunately, I don’t think that person exists, and I don’t think that the experience would be quite as vital or memorable as it has been. I have traveled many miles in the distance of understanding and followed many paths by using only my mind and my reading list. The vehicle which has allowed me to do this has been the gift of literacy and the knowledge imparted to me from the wisest people who have ever thought thoughts. I wanted to compile a list of all of the books I have read that have contributed to my journey of self discovery. So that if you are looking for knowledge you will find out if you need to read these books or not.

The Four Agreements- Don Miguel Ruiz

The Alchemist- Paulo Coelho

Identity- Stedman Graham

Inflection- Window for and Inspired life- George Alexiou

That is That- Nirmala

Give up your Excess Baggage- Sri Vishwanth

The Reading List Continues

7 Ancient Keys to Happiness- A 90 Day, Lesson-a-Day Guide to Achieving inner-Bliss -S. Mills

Think and Grow Rich- Napoleon Hill

Frank Betther’s How I Raised Myself from Failure To Success (infinite Success Series)- Karen McCreadie

An Easy Guide to Meditation – Roy Eugene Davis

Ask, Believe, Receive- 7 Days to Increased Wealth, Bett3r Relationships, and a Life You Love- David Hooper

Thought Vibration- William Walker Atkinson

The Secret Art of Self Development – Karl Moore

Quantum Success- Sandra Anne Taylor

18 Rules of Happiness: How to Be Happy -Karl Moore

Frequency- Penney Peirce

The God Formula: A Simple Scientific Blueprint that has transformed Millions of lives – Jeffery Martin

Leveraging The Universe- Mike Dooley

Believe in Yourself – Joseph Murphy

The Game of Life and How to play it- Florence Scovel Shinn

Your Invisible Power – Genevieve Behrend

Thoughts are Things- Prentice Mulford

Radical Happiness- Gina Lake

Secret of the Ages- Robert Collier

The Power of Concentration- Theron Q. Dumont

This is still an incomplete list, but will do for anyone who wants to get started on the path to knowledge and understanding this reading list will give you a push in the right direction.

Articles

My Advice to Me

November 23, 2013 Jonathan Hilton Leave a comment

My freshman year of college on the b-ball team. Didn't have a clue. — My freshman year of college on the b-ball team. Didn’t have a clue.

Hey Young Jonathan, it is time to put the toys away. Put down the beer bottle and pay attention, I have to send you a message that will change your life. It will make you more successful, happier and in the end me.

This is a post I have often seen and wanted to do. I have been endowed with the incredible talent to send this back in time to myself at 18 years old, I can only tell myself five things or it would be a book, not a blog. I have gone a lot of miles in the last 29 years and I should have a lot of good advice for me. You can be the judge of the value, I can only provide what I have.

YOU ARE SMART

Hey Jonathan, for much of the last five years or so, people have been telling you that you are not that intelligent. And the worst part is that you believe them. People are making judgments about you because you had a hard time with the system.

Homework is not your thing, and yes you could have tried harder, but I know that most of that time you were a walking ball of hormones and being in school was just a social occasion for you. It didn’t mark your intelligence, that is inside you. Start to believe in this now, college gets easier for you and by the time you are an adult, you realize how easy learning is, particularly when it is on your terms and about things you like. You are smart, you have always known it, don’t hide who you are because it is easy!

Be Yourself

Much of your life is going to be spent worrying about what others think for some reason. It is a silly waste of time, because you will only be happy, really happy when you accept who you are and do what makes you happy.

You like to write and create, but for much of your life you will be scared to be creative. Fear is just a thought Jonathan and you need to face the world with the love that is in your heart. Be accepting of others and they will be accepting of you. BE Yourself, because the one thing I have learned, that I am absolutely sure of is that the person that you are is OK.

Understand Friendship

Friendship is a crazy thing. Understand that all friendships are formed around a shared experience with someone else. Do not hesitate to open the door to more shared experiences and more friends. Don’t judge others too harshly because you will notice that you can only criticize in others, what you know is inside yourself. Rather than judge, open your heart and accept all people as friends when you have the chance.

Understanding the nature of friendship is to realize that people will come into and fall out of your life. Some may enter again later and some you may never see again. When the shared experience that makes you friends is gone, most often so are the friends. Work is a shared experience, a hobby is a shared experience and life can be. Don’t expect too much of a friendship, because in many cases they will let you down.

But understand that when your eyes are open, there are new friends and experiences coming down the road. Most often they are going to teach you just what you need to know, and help you survive the shared experience you are having right now. Follow your nature Jonathan, make more friends, and let them move in and out of your life without judgment or expectation.

It isn’t All About YOU

Jonathan, there is one aspect of your life that I want you to change, and that is to be less selfish. You put yourself first in too many situations and that is no way to live. As you only worry about yourself and what you have. The focus of your life is your existence and eventually the only thing in your life will be you.

One of the secrets of life I have learned is that the more you give, the more you get. It is a simple thing, but when you are acting self-centered you can’t see it. Give to others freely and without expectation of reward and…………………..you are rewarded. Life has quite a sense of humor. This is true in relationships, jobs, money and every aspect of life. Giving always allows you to receive.

Fighting the Angry Chicken

November 12, 2012 Jonathan Hilton Leave a comment

talking to the chickens — I just wanted to ask, “How was your day?”

There are many times in life when you have to fight to be a man, today was not one of those days. As I was minding my own business, thinking about enjoying the warm weather and getting some work done. I was interrupted by the gentle clucking of chickens outside. The place where I am fortunate enough to work has their own chickens, that they do get their own eggs from, and so they serve a purpose. I have seen them almost daily, and my interactions with them have until today been of the most perfunctory in nature.

So this takes us to today, I hear the chickens clucking away outside, and I decided that I should go out and talk to them and see what all the clucking was about. I mean there must

chickens are mad — I was simply acting like the chickens, I guess I must have done too good a job.

have been something happening. So I approached the herd of chickens like I always did, with a friendly disposition and the intent of just saying, “Hello chickens, what is happening on this beautiful November day?”

The conversation started much as I thought it would, I milled about with the chickens and made my own fake clucking sound, thinking this would ingratiate me with the rest of the flock. Seeing no animosity, I took that as encouragement and started to duck my head and

chicken attacks — Out of nowhere, like a shark, he attacked!! I reacted with bravery as you can see.

mimic the motions the fowl were making. This turned out to be a bad idea. As one of the roosters took this action to be a threat I think.

Out of nowhere he pecked at my shoe. Which more startled me than scared me. This chicken was really mad at my shoe apparently as he continued to attack. I tried to reason with the chicken and calmly explained that I didn’t mean any harm and if he went away I might bring him some food. He didn’t buy it so I of course went into my natural defense mode, which is reminiscent of the crane technique from the movie the Karate Kid. Mr. Miyagi said when you do this right, there is no defense. He obviously had never tussled with an angry chicken before.

I hoped he would get bored and stop his attack before I had to get serious and move to the second part of my self defense training. (The fetal position) Fortunately I was able to stay

I instinctively practiced the crane technique from the Karate Kid, it seemed appropriate due to the opponent.

calm and stop laughing long enough to think of an acceptable exit strategy.

The irony was heavy on my mind that I was running away from an overly combatant chicken: Who was the chicken? I did learn that if a chicken does start to attack you, if you run away, they will not be able to follow you very far and they will immediately attack your friend who was taking pictures of that whole incident. So it all worked out in the end I got away with out being harmed by a chicken or doing harm to a chicken. I also haven’t laughed so hard in a long time.

Running away from the chicken — I showed him who the better chicken was! How do you defeat a chicken? You become one!

Buffalo Wings and Chicken Fingers – From Plains to Plate
Basic Equipment for Chcikens
Monday Madness: Curiosity killed the chicken?
How chickens can change a life

Personal Projects

Thirty Questions to Understanding

October 20, 2012 Jonathan Hilton Leave a comment

by Jonathan Hilton

It all started so innocently. I was looking for a way to improve my writing and to increase the original content on my website. I was also looking for a way to write more about what I feel without a filter and to express what is going on in my mind. A friend motivated me to do this, and that led me to watch this video about how this guy had done a string of personal thirty-day challenges to improve his life in some way.

This challenge resonated with me, and I started to think about what kind of project I could work on and improve my writing and expressing myself in thirty days. That was the day I saw it, thirty questions that will change your life. I didn’t check them out or read over them in advance, the whole project clicked in my mind, and I was committed. I would answer one question honestly for the next thirty days and publish them on my blog.

I have been right about only reading one question at a time, so I only deal with one a day. It has been a revelation personally. Many people say what they would do in a particular situation or are quick to share their opinion, but it takes quite a bit more to put it into writing and to place it out there for anyone to read. The key for me has been to write honestly from a place that is honest and true, that doesn’t care for approval or worry about disapproval because it is right exactly how it was answered.

Also, I posted only the question on Facebook to get some ideas, and have found some interesting things by doing this. I have gained some insights from some, and if they ever wonder why I am writing all of these questions, then they can read my answers and see what I am all about in life. If they aren’t interested, that is ok too.

Here is a list of the questions, you can click on the questions and read my answer if you would like.

How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you are?

2. – Which is worse, failing or never trying?

3. When it’s all said and done, will you have said more than you’ve done?

4. What is the one thing you’d most like to change about the world?

–Are you doing what you believe in, or are you settling for what you are doing?

6. To what degree have you controlled the course your life has taken?

7. -Are you more worried about doing things right or doing the right things?

–If you could offer a newborn child, only one piece of advice, what would it be?
–Would you break the law to save a loved one?
–Have you ever seen insanity where you later saw creativity?
-What’s something you know you do differently than most people?
–How come the things that make you happy don’t make everyone happy?
- What one thing have you not done that you want to do? What’s holding you back?

14. -Do you push the elevator button more than once? Do you believe it makes the elevator faster?

–Why are you, you?

16. -Have you been the kind of friend you want as a friend?

–Would you rather lose all of your old memories or never be able to make new ones?

18. Is it possible to know the truth without challenging it first?

19. Has your greatest fear ever come true?

20. At what time in your recent past, have you felt most passionate and alive?

21. If not now, then when?

22. If you haven’t achieved it yet, what do you have to lose?

Have you ever been with someone, said nothing, and walked away feeling like you just had the best conversation ever?

24. When was the last time you marched into the dark with only the soft glow of an idea you strongly believed in?

25. If you knew the world was ending tomorrow, who would you make sure you visited today?

26. Would you be willing to reduce your life expectancy by ten years to become extremely attractive or famous?

27. What is the difference between being alive and truly living?

28. What would you do differently if you knew nobody would judge you?

29. When was the last time you noticed the sound of your breathing?

30. Decisions are being made right now. The question is: Are you making them for yourself, or are you letting others make them for you?

Jonathan Hilton Mind Connections

Tag Archives: Thought

Choosing Positive over Negative

The Opposite is Always Available

Proactive Thought

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My First Reading List

The Four Agreements- Don Miguel Ruiz

The Alchemist- Paulo Coelho

More Reading list

Even More Reading List

The Reading List Continues

Like this:

My Advice to Me

YOU ARE SMART

Be Yourself

Understand Friendship

It isn’t All About YOU

Read more, Open Your Mind

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Fighting the Angry Chicken

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Thirty Questions to Understanding

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Personal Growth, Self Improvement, Positive Thinking

The Opposite is Always Available

Proactive Thought

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Like this:

The Four Agreements- Don Miguel Ruiz

The Alchemist- Paulo Coelho

More Reading list

Even More Reading List

The Reading List Continues

Share this:

Like this:

YOU ARE SMART

Be Yourself

Understand Friendship

It isn’t All About YOU

Read more, Open Your Mind

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Personal Growth, Self Improvement, Positive Thinking