Positive thinking is much more than simply looking at the glass as half full rather than half empty. The famous quote, “If you think you can or think you can’t – either way you are right,” is one of the most indicative statements about the sheer value of positive thinking in our lives. It seems simple—think positively, think good things, smile often, and be happy! But for most people, it is one of the single most difficult adjustments to make in life. How can something so simple in theory be so difficult in practice?
Probably, most people try to look at the sunny side of life. Unfortunately, life often caves in, and all the turmoil, troubles, stress, and discontentment flood the psyche, washing away all opportunity to be positive. People become downtrodden and self-abusive in their mental chatter, assuming the worst and usually getting it. The vicious cycle of getting what we ask for seems to only further prove our belief that life isn’t always positive! After all, how can one remain positive when so many undoubtedly negative things keep happening? What if we are simply getting what we ask for? Sure, no one outright asks for financial trouble or illness, but what if the non-positive thinking status of our mind is attracting that which we don’t want?
The Power of Our Thoughts
Let’s pretend for a moment that the metaphysical and new age theories about thought, which claim that we are what we think and that our realities are created by our thoughts, are true. Imagine it to be as true as it is that the sky is blue or that fish swim! Now, take a look at your own life. Perhaps the negative thinking and mindless insults and insecurities we toss around in our heads—the voice that tells us we can’t or won’t do something—are the deciding factors in our fate. What if the reasons we think so negatively or that our lives are a culmination of squashed dreams and deserted hopes are wholly the responsibility of our own thinking? Would you be willing to change your mind?
Examine your language for one day. How many times do you say words associated with negativity like “can’t,” “won’t,” “don’t,” “hate,” “don’t like,” “refuse,” or “no”? How many times do you begin to nod in disagreement before a statement or question is fully asked? How often do you expect the kids to act up, to not feel well, or to be tired and stressed? How many times during the day do you think about failing, not doing as well as you dreamed, or feeling unsatisfied with something you’ve given up or compromised on in life? Read those sentences a few times and even take the time to write your answers down. Keep track of your thoughts and actions for one day, and you will surprise yourself at how much negative thinking you do.
The law of attraction says with Universal wisdom that what we put our energy into is what we will be attracted to and what will be attracted to us. So if we constantly think, worry, or are fearful about lack of money or sex, we are given exactly that. The most difficult part of the whole equation is that positive thinking is hard to implement. Perhaps we are afraid that by thinking positively—by getting what we want, by seeing our lives as limitless cups that runneth over—we will be perceived as selfish. Perhaps we learned along the road of life that somehow we must pay our dues or earn, toil, and sacrifice in order to get what we want out of life. Somewhere along the way, we have given in to the belief that we must suffer to succeed, that we must put ourselves last in order to be worthy and giving. We have been taught through social graces that getting what we want is spoiled and greedy. So many of us try to think positively for a day or two at a time but are overwhelmed by guilt and quickly revert to the comfort zone of negativity. We cling to it like a leech to blood and refuse to give it up. Have you ever asked yourself why?
There are some theories. By thinking positively and expecting positive things, and hardly even considering that things could go wrong, we risk being disappointed. Depending on faith or belief, we risk being fearful of being punished, and deep down inside, many of us actually feel unworthy of the positive thoughts necessary to transform our lives. Humans change their minds all day, every day. You might decide on McDonald’s over Wendy’s. You might choose to go see one movie instead of another. These are painless, quick, and easy switches in our thinking. So we know we can do it. Yet, when it comes to the simplistic theory of changing our negative thoughts into positive thinking, we resist. Like mules, our heels dig into the ground and we fight against one of the innate, beautiful, and inalienable rights of people—happiness!
Positive thinking makes things happen and causes a shift in our lives that is unsurpassed by anything or any circumstance. Positive thinking is what changes our destiny and enables us to systematically and naturally manifest peace, happiness, and joy. Positive thinking is the one thread in the quilt of life that never snags nor withers from stress. The point is, we have to choose it above, beyond, and over everything else.
The bottom line is that the only way we can truly live the life intended for us—the one we secretly dream about in our solitary minds—is to begin to think positively every day. Think positively about our jobs, our children, our future, and our today. Certainly, some days will be better than others, and all of us will have to find not just the will but the courage to think positively in all circumstances. We should be afraid not to expect the good, but to assume the bad. We should worry more about the state of our lives when we resist the switch in our thinking so furtively that we refuse or ignore all the positive going on around us.
You may not believe in the laws of attraction, but you don’t have to. You do have to believe in the power of your mind to make things happen. If you commit to staying stuck in the mud that is negative thinking, no matter what ideal you believe in, you will never get out. Positive thinking is not just seeing the glass half full—it is seeing the glass, the artisan who created it, the fluid inside, the plentiful well that fills it, and the ability it has to thoroughly quench the desires and needs of your soul. All is always well!
