I woke up this morning and picked up my copy of “The Secret.” It’s one of my favorite books for it’s mystical cover, fancy script writing and seal on the front make it look like it has deep messages inside. It does in a way, in that it reveals along many different angles how the power of positive thinking can change your experiences. On some level, this might seem obvious, but it’s not something that we all have as a habit.
I’ll admit that I was a skeptic to the power of positive thinking and on some level for me, it’s an ongoing process to remember that my  thoughts can shape how I see the world. It’s can seem so much easier  to fall into the habit of complaining, worrying and negative thinking. It starts out as a conscious process; to change your thoughts from negative ones to more positive thinking. For me, I fall in and out of the habit and find that when I’m feeling insecure, unsteady, tired and frustrated, those are the times that I find myself getting overwhelmed with negative thoughts. It is in those times of feeling confident and happy that I find it’s easier to think positive.
The challenge is to make it a habit to have positive thoughts, even in the face of evidence to the contrary. When I’m stuck in a particular problem, positive thinking, quite frankly is one of the last things on my list of action steps. There are usually lots of tasks and status updates. In fact, as I create such a plan, I find myself falling more into a negative thought pattern, as I see the list of actions and start to wonder if I can make it all happen. It is in these times that I need to turn on the power of positive thinking to begin to trick myself into thinking that everything will be all right. For me, this doesn’t mean that I throw my action plan in the trash and only meditate on positive thoughts but it does mean that along with my plan, I meditate on positive thoughts around the problem. If the plan has to do with creating new business opportunities, I meditate on the idea of myself landing these opportunities and fulfilling them. If the plan has to do with finances, I visualize myself having an abundance of resources and doing all the things I want to do and buying all the things I need as well as desire. If the plan has to do with finding a new place to live or upgrading my current living situation, I meditate on the visual of my dream home and see myself living there.
My challenge for the next 30 days is to use positive thinking to re-shape my attitudes towards certain challenges I’m facing in my life. I vow to say out loud statements that reinforce my “make it happen” attitude and my positive thinking. What do you think? Do you think positive thinking that create opportunities in your life to show up? I’d love to hear your thoughts.