You Are What You Think - The Power of Thoughts

[shellshocked]

I found this REALLY good article and wanted to share.

 

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You Are What You Think - The Power of Positive Thoughts

Marty Varnadoe Dow, LCSW

 

“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things.” Philippians 4:8

 

 

Thought has been the subject of many wonderful books. My earliest exposure to the power of thought was through James Allen's book, As a Man Thinketh. In this little book the author reveals how your thoughts create harmony or chaos in every aspect of life.

 

Thoughts affect us in a number of ways. Thoughts are a vital tool in creating the reality we experience. They create our emotional states. They affect our bodies and, thereforeeee, our health. Thoughts influence our responses to life and our relationships. Thoughts determine our choices.

 

Take a moment to write down three thoughts you have had today. Do not make this too complicated. Simply write down three thoughts you have had in the last 24 hours. Any three thoughts will do. Please do this before you read the next section. It will help you to apply those ideas to your life. Record these thoughts in your journal.

 

Categories of Thoughts

 

Thoughts can be divided into three broad categories: what I want, or positive thoughts; what I can do, or action thoughts; what I don't want, or worry thoughts. Most thought is about the future or the past. Very few of us are able to stay centered in the present moment. For the sake of clarity, let us assume I have an upcoming surgery that is occupying most of my thoughts. If I am thinking about how fortunate I am to have an excellent surgeon, I am thinking positive thoughts. If I am thinking about the activities I need to do to prepare for the surgery, I am thinking action thoughts. If I am thinking about what can go wrong in surgery, I am thinking worry thoughts.

 

Worry Thoughts

If you were surprised to find most of your thoughts were worry thoughts, you are not alone. Most people are not aware of their thoughts. They go through the day with uncensored mental programming playing in the background of their minds. They experience feelings and reactions that they do not understand.

 

They believe their emotions and thoughts are something that happens to them; something over which they have little or no control. Many people feel it is their duty to worry. They adamantly defend their worry thoughts. They believe that if they do not worry they have not done all they could to prevent something negative from happening.

 

These people resist positive thoughts because they see no value in them. In their mind thoughts cannot affect the outcome of a situation, so why waste time thinking positive. It is almost as if the negative thoughts are preparing them for the worst possible scenario. For most worry thinkers, such mental activity is learned behavior based on faulty information about the power of thoughts.

 

Let us examine some of the premises upon which worry thinking is based. Note which of the statements listed below seem true to you. These may be some of the beliefs out of which your worry thinking has developed.

 

 

My thoughts are a reflection of who I am. I cannot control them, they simply happen to me.

 

You are not your thoughts. Thoughts are an activity of your mind. You have the right and the responsibility to choose your thoughts. Your thoughts are based on the things you believe about the world. They are a perfect reflection of your core beliefs, not your True Identity. At some point in your life you accepted certain belief systems out of which your thoughts are formed. You can change your beliefs and your thoughts.

 

 

Many of my thoughts are unconscious; thereforeeee, I can not know what they are.

 

Thoughts are readily available in your mind. You may not easily see them because you do not consciously listen to your thoughts. You allow them to play repetitively in the background of your mind. When you focus your awareness on your thoughts you will be amazed at what you spend your time thinking.

 

 

My thoughts have no effect on my emotions or the events of my life.

 

Emotion follows thought. If you are thinking positive thoughts you will feel hopeful and uplifted. Worry thoughts create fear and anxiety. Worry thoughts inhibit the flow of energy blocking you from taking action in your life. Positive thoughts stimulate activity, assisting you in transforming your life. Worry thoughts keep you from seeing options, blinding you to possible solutions to your problems. Positive thought relaxes your thinking processes allowing you to see new ideas and recognize opportunities.

 

The fear and anxiety caused by worry thoughts will flow into your personal relationships, creating discord and conflict. The joy caused by positive thinking will improve every aspect of your life. Positive thought enhances the body's immune system, while worry thoughts inhibit the body's natural healing response.

 

 

If I do not worry, I have not done all I can to prevent disaster from happening in my life.

 

As I mentioned earlier, worry thoughts inhibit action. Action thoughts are fundamental to preventing disaster. When you have taken all the action there is to do, thinking positive thoughts is the most productive action you can take. There is no positive benefit to worrying.

 

 

If I spend all my time thinking positive thoughts and disaster comes anyway, I would have wasted my time.

 

I believe faith and positive thought create positive events in your life; but, even if that were not true, thinking positive thoughts has tremendous benefits for you.

 

Positive thoughts create healing, produce enjoyable emotions, and reduce the stress in your life. Positive thought stimulates you to look for solutions to your situation and increases the energy you have to take action. Positive thought makes the journey worthwhile no matter what the outcome.

 

Someone once asked Patricia Sun, a spiritual teacher, what would happen when she died and found out she was wrong about the philosophy of joy she was teaching. Patricia laughed and said, “You mean what would I do if I discovered I had been having all this fun for nothing?” I am sure you can see the absurdity of the question!

 

 

If I don't worry, I won't be prepared for the worst possible scenario.

 

If the worst possible scenario does happen, you will have plenty of time to be upset when it arrives. Spending months in anxiety does not prepare you for anything. You can not pre-experience emotions caused by a disaster. Worrying ahead of time will simply weaken you, limiting your natural ability to cope with crisis or loss.

 

Thoughts As A Tool of Creation

 

If you want to learn to soar above every situation in your life, you must learn to use your thoughts to create the reality of your choice. Earlier we discussed the way thought affects our emotions, responses, and our ability to see options and take actions. Thoughts, combined with emotion, create specific outcomes in your life. You can use thoughts to create the events in your life and not simply to affect how you respond to events life brings to you.

 

Thoughts combined with emotion are fundamental to creation. When people first learn about the power of thought, they fear every passing thought. It is not random thoughts which create your reality; it is those thoughts you predominately have which produce such a powerful effect in your life.

 

Creating reality with thought is similar to the process of hypnosis. You must focus all of your attention on the thoughts of what you want to create. Combined with an intense feeling, your thought goes forth to produce what you desire.

[Locke2121]

This is very akin to magic. Witches like myself use the power of thought to set in motion events that we want to happen. It doesn't matter if these events are external or internal, its all the same to us.

 

Great article!

[Jetta]

Great article, thanks for sharing.

[luvursmile]

Great article, SS! I wish I could do that...never was good at controlling my thoughts & emotions, though...Mind over matter, right?!

[Locke2121]

It takes practice, but anyone can do it! It can really change your outlook on life.

[shellshocked]

Great article, SS! I wish I could do that...never was good at controlling my thoughts & emotions, though...Mind over matter, right?!

 

i know what you mean, Luv...

and can totally relate.

it's R E A L L Y hard for me to do too....

 

I fall into the category where I worry thinking it will prepare me for the worst possible outcome.

 

But in reality, when i do this, i'm worrying about something that i don't even know for sure will happen.

And in my experience, 99.99% of the time it doesn't happen, so all i've really accomplished is to drive myself crazy and make myself feel bad for nothing.

 

And doing that also manages to take the JOY out of all the positive things that ARE happening.

[luvursmile]

i know what you mean, Luv...

and can totally relate.

it's R E A L L Y hard for me to do too....

 

I fall into the category where I worry thinking it will prepare me for the worst possible outcome.

 

But in reality, when i do this, i'm worrying about something that i don't even know for sure will happen.

And in my experience, 99.99% of the time it doesn't happen, so all i've really accomplished is to drive myself crazy and make myself feel bad for nothing.

 

And doing that also manages to take the JOY out of all the positive things that ARE happening.

 

I do the EXACT same thing! I am a HUGE worrier....things I know likely wont even happen, you know. Like just the other day (you know hubby & I have been thinking about having a baby) and I saud something along the lines of "Are we prepared for that? Can we pay for its college?", etc....He was like "College? That is so far away." Stuff like that, I just worry waaaaay to much. He's right of course...college is too far off to think about.

 

So just like you, I end up stressing myself out, not sleeping, etc ](*,)

[renaissancewoman101]

I tend to be a worrywart and a lot of times, what I worry about, doesnt come to pass. But then I have a tendency to think bad thoughts to the point I MAKE it happen. That's not good.

 

Question then, if you think good positive thoughts, will it bring good things to your life? Like if you want something to happen, like a promotion or a bf to fall in your life, if you keep thinking positively, will that more make it happen?

[luvursmile]

Ren, it has been my experience with friends of mine--that the moment they stop obsessing about finding a BF or a husband, for that matter....it happens. Someone just appears...so maybe focus on something else; make something else a priority, say, your career, for example. Forget about finding a man for now.

[shellshocked]

I tend to be a worrywart and a lot of times, what I worry about, doesnt come to pass. But then I have a tendency to think bad thoughts to the point I MAKE it happen. That's not good.

 

Question then, if you think good positive thoughts, will it bring good things to your life? Like if you want something to happen, like a promotion or a bf to fall in your life, if you keep thinking positively, will that more make it happen?

 

Some say that it does, Ren.

But there are alot of people on both sides of the fence as to if they

really believe it to be true or that it's just some mumbo jumbo.

 

Do a google search on the "Law of Attraction". and "The Secret" to learn more.

 

Whether it IS true or not, i don't know...

but what i DO know to be true (based on the the article i posted here), is today, everytime i noticed a negative thought come into my head, i immediately said to myself, "It doesn't help me to think about that!" (cause really...what good DOES it do for me to think about something bad? if it's going to happen, me dwelling on it is not going to stop it from happening..right?)

and i've felt alot better (and more positive) today than i have been feeling lately..

[luvursmile]

^^hmmmm, interesting. I'll give it a shot!

[Portage]

I find i worry about the small things, this helps me to avoid the bigger issues in my life, does this make sense??

 

PS - Great article...thx for sharing, SS

[Orlander]

I just have to say that after readin this post and watching The Secret, reading the Law of Attraction, and Wayne Dyer's The Power of Intention and even several passages in the Bible that I believe we create what we think.

 

Looking back I see that where I am today and what I feel I have or am lacking is directly related to how I have thought and acted upon those thoughts in the past and how I act and think currently.

 

Great stuff, indeed. I'm still learning to cultivate a more positive attitude and thought patterns.

 

Orlander

[luvursmile]

 

*I am a gazillionaire, I am a gazillionaire, I am a gazillionaire*

 

Me too! ](*,) Me too! ](*,) Me too! ](*,)

[shellshocked]

I find i worry about the small things, this helps me to avoid the bigger issues in my life, does this make sense??

 

That makes sense to me.

But i wonder if you mean like you worry about taking your car in for regular oil changes, so it will last longer and you won't have a BIGGER car problem in the future...

Is it things like that, onelastgo?

 

With me, the things i find myself worrying about are things that i have no control over...or things that i have NO REASON to worry about.

 

example:

my gf sent me a surprise gift in the mail yesterday.

my initial reaction was i was happy and surprised.

but...that faded almost instantaneously because then i

immediately started thinking:

"hmmmm...in the card she said "this" and didn't say "that", i wonder

what that means? maybe it means that she really doesn't feel that

way about me anymore, cause she said that before, but didn't say it now.

yeah...she probably isn't that into me anymore....so sure, she sent me

this sweet gift, but she probably just felt obligated to....and...aye yi yi!!! ](*,) ](*,) "

 

Poor girl!!!!

She did something TOTALLY because she cares about me and wanted to surprise me...but instead of being happy about it, suddenly i'm feeling like i want to dump her before she dumps me!!

 

I must be INSANE!!!!

 

So this is an example of me worrying about something that i have NO evidence of it happening, like her dumping me (in fact, what happened should have been evidence to the contrary) and NO control over (all i can do is be the BEST that "I" can be to her and for her...) and instead of feeling the joyfulness of what she did...i felt like crap.

[hosswhispra]

Guys where can I rent "The Secret"? Blockbuster doesn't have it.....

 

I got the Law of Attraction book on CD by Esther and Jerry Hicks and started reading some.

[shellshocked]

Guys where can I rent "The Secret"? Blockbuster doesn't have it.....

 

You can rent it and watch it online (that's what i did).

 

I think this:

 

link removed

 

is the link.

[hosswhispra]

^ Thank you shellshocked

[luvursmile]

I hear ya, girlfriend!! My hubby bought me an Ipod the other day for no reason whatsoever. My initial response was "yah, now I can stop taking his." Second thought: "Hmmm, I wonder why he did this? Is he feeling guilty about something? Did he cheat on me?"

 

Pure paranoia!!!!! ](*,)

[SexySadie7]

I'm not sure i'd agree that positive thinking is akin to magic.

Have you read Norman Vincent Peale's "Power of Positive Thinking"? It's quite an old book but very inspiring and it talks about this type of stuff.

You could get it out of the library I'm sure.

Yeah.. and I think that hanging out with people with negative attitudes affects you too.

It's very refreshing to be around kids for that reason, they tend to see the sunny side of life.

It's also really hard to be around negative or unfriendly people. It affects your mood, even when you try to not let it get to you.

I wish I could afford the Mac OS X Operating system. It's like $130. I'd hook up my new Ipod and listen to all kinds of new things.

Well, it's going to be a nice spring day today. Everyone have a positive day!

[shellshocked]

I hear ya, girlfriend!! My hubby bought me an Ipod the other day for no reason whatsoever. My initial response was "yah, now I can stop taking his." Second thought: "Hmmm, I wonder why he did this? Is he feeling guilty about something? Did he cheat on me?"

 

Pure paranoia!!!!! ](*,)

 

i know EXACTLY how you feel, Luv!!!!!!

[Vynde]

Good stuff shellshocked, thank you.