The misconcesptions and truth about positive thinking
INSPIRATIONAL.COM
| Home | Store | Essays | Links |
| Over time, positive thinking has become
misunderstood, mocked and neglected by too many people for far too long. It is my hope to set the record straight and put a powerful tool back in the light of truth so all people can easily understand, embrace and use their human right of thinking anything they choose at any given time. First, let's clear up any misunderstanding by learning what positive thinking isn't.. Positive thinking is not: -Fluffy, empty thoughts that trick you into thinking everything is okay. -Affirmation of repeating a statement dozens of times. -Make believe, fantasy or lying. -Idealistic crap that's out of reach for anyone with real problems. -A magic formula to make bad things, people or situations go away. Regardless of what beliefs you may have about positive thinking through comedy skits, bad information in the past, or even through the negative self-conditioning of society - the fact is that by positively controlling our thoughts, we begin to steer our actions - which in reality steers the direction and quality of our lives. As I've mentioned in other entries, we do have the capability to control our thoughts. How we look at things is the first and most important step in a series of motions, that we go through on a regular basis that take us from point "A" to point "B". These motions (which all start with thoughts) take place whether we exercise control over them or not. The amount you control these motions will directly influence the amount of control you have over your experience of life itself. Here are some examples of positive thinking: Situation: You have a few more bills than this week's paycheck will cover. Negative thinking: There's no way I'll be able to pay these bills. Not this week, not ever. I don't know what I'm going to do. I wish I could just hit the lottery so all these bills would just go away. Positive thinking: I made these bills and I will pay them. I don't have enough with my check this week so I'll have to do more than that. How can I earn more money to cover them? Could I cut wasteful spending to help cover this? Maybe I can get some overtime, I'll ask tomorrow and write myself a note so I don't forget. I could also return all those cans we've been saving in the garage. I'm sure I could do some odd jobs for people and make extra money that way. (etc.) Situation: Looking at a tree in the yard. Negative thinking: I can't stand this tree. All it does is drop leaves into the yard that I have to rake. I'm tired of picking up broken branches and running them over with the lawn mower. If I had a chainsaw I'd hack that thing to the ground right now. Positive thinking: What a great tree. The kids love climbing in it, the birds and squirrels seem to enjoy it. Every fall I get an extra workout raking leaves which makes me feel a little better about my body. Remember back in '87 when that out of control car hit the tree instead of plowing through our bedroom? That tree saved our butts that night! Situation: Every day life. Negative thinking: This SUCKS! I can't stand my job, I don't have any money, everybody is an idiot and they never show anything good on television. Positive thinking: Any circumstance in my life that is currently not to my liking can be handled. I can change things. I can change myself. It's not as hard as most people make it seem once I stop making excuses and just get down to business. Even when things happen that I can't do anything about, I can always change the way I look at it and that gives me power over anything I may face in life. The truth is that good and bad (for the most part) is something that we make up. Many things just happen without any real intention. It is our interpretation that makes them good or bad in our minds - and that is our choice to change at will. If you're walking under an apple tree and a fresh apple falls on your head - you can see it as a bad thing, your head hurts a little and you can blow it totally out of proportion and let it ruin your day. OR, you can grab the apple off the ground, laugh, clean it up with your shirt and eat it because you're hungry and it's free food. The choice is yours. Another example: A few days ago was the 3rd anniversary of the night my mother passed away. As a human being I have virtually unlimited choices how I can feel about the death of one of my all time favorite people on the planet. I'm not a person to recommend doing things I wouldn't do myself. I've seen the passing of others literally destroy people. They just focus on the loss for so long it becomes more pain than it ever needed to be. To be clear, I'm in NO way making light of death or saying it doesn't matter. But, it does happen to every single one of us and there is literally nothing we can do about it. Except, change our way of thinking toward it. Every time that anniversary date comes and thoughts of my mom pop into my head, through practice of controlled thought I often feel lucky, happy and at peace knowing that as long as I live, my mother lives. She was so funny and cool - and thinking of her makes me smile. No, she wasn't perfect and of course we butted heads a few dozen times over the years... But you know what? All that matters is the good. Good is the goal, we all want happiness - but to get it, you absolutely have to aim for it. Thinking of sadness, loss, anger or resentment is taking you the wrong way. I'm not perfect - nobody is, but I swear to you I practice what I preach as best I can. I screw up, I hurt, I do some pretty stupid things at times - but I'm fairly quick to kick my own butt back on course and I know for a fact you (or anybody else) can do the exact same thing and it's completely worth the effort you put in retraining yourself. Things can be hard, there's no doubt. Our attitude most often makes things much harder than they really are though. You can prove it to yourself if you try. Over time society has hypnotized itself into thinking that things are way beyond our reach, that happiness is a myth and that the grass is always greener elsewhere. I'm here to tell you as a true friend that it's all nonsense. Life is set up in such a way that you can literally have, do or become ANYTHING you really want. If you learn what you have to learn, do what you have to do and control your thinking, over time you can be holding your dreams in your hands. This is the promise of the universe - to ALL people from all places. Napoleon Hill, the legendary motivational speaker once wrote, "keep your mind on what you want and off of what you don't want". Read that again if you will, as it may be one of the more important concepts that ever enters your mind. To be clear: You DON'T want illness, or lack, or anger, or guilt or regret. You DO want happiness, peace, plenty, respect, fun and health. What you think about grows. What you think about, you get. These facts are 100% real, tested and proven. The more miserable you think you are, the more miserable you will be, period. If you're unhappy right now but thought of things that make you happy and got up and DID things that you enjoy doing, you would be happy again. Practice with this, it will seem hard at first but with practice over time comes ease. If you really keep with it, in time a new habit will be locked in and it will be nearly effortless. Practice does NOT make perfect, but it does make better than yesterday. Again, keep your mind on what you want and OFF what you don't want. Think about your future and the things you can do TODAY to make that future better than the past. Think about today and the FACT that you're just as capable as anyone else, it just takes directed effort. Think about how lucky you are to be as healthy as you are. To have a place to live. For the food you eat. Be thankful for everything you get including your problems - because EVERY problem you figure out and overcome makes you STRONGER and more ready for the next set of problems that will come along. Don't just take excuses you've heard elsewhere and make them your own - they're not true or real! I swear to you with every ounce of my being that we're ALL better than that. But not perfect, never perfect - don't expect perfection because it doesn't exist. But "really good" DOES exist and it's yours for the taking. Practice directing your own thoughts. Try first when you're alone when it's quiet (like right before or after sleep) and then give it a shot when things are hectic. Then try again. And again... Positive thinking is NOT the joke an ignorant society pretends it is. Directing your thoughts in a positive way is the start of truly meeting your needs and obtaining your desires. And believe it or not, it's the easiest way there is. MUCH easier than banging your head against a rock, day after day just hoping for change to magically happen to you. YOU are the magic! This IS the promise of the universe. |
You can do anything!
| Home | Store | Essays | Links |
(C) 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 and beyond Inspirational.com all rights reserved
| Think this page might help someone? Feel free to
e-mail them this link: http://www.inspirational.com/essays/positive-thinking.htm select the link by clicking your left mouse button at one end of the
line above and dragging to the opposite end, highlighting the entire
link. |
Home of inspiration, motivation and truth about your ability to achieve your desires