The power of thought - and how to control our thoughts!
E-Canteen Fundas: It's time to change your life, one positive affirmation at a time
Our thoughts and words create the experiences we have. Our thoughts lead to actions and actions lead to results
Think it out | (Pic: EdexLive)
‘What’s up, Rahul?’ asked Rakesh. ‘You look rather low today.’
‘It’s nothing,’ said Rahul. ‘I’m fine.’
‘No, he isn’t,’ said Rinku. ‘He got low grades in a new course he took and then got some negative remarks on his presentation. Ever since he’s been feeling low and anxious. I keep telling him that he’s smart and intelligent and can easily work hard and make a comeback. But he’s stuck there.’
‘It’s just one exam and one presentation, Rahul,’ said Rakesh. ‘You can change things now. The point of power is always in the present moment.’
‘No, bhaiyya,’ said Rahul. ‘I’m not good enough. Everyone in class is much smarter than me. People don’t even like me. I want to give up and quit.’
‘Ah, according to this wonderful book by Louise L Hay called You Can Heal Your Life, most people in the world suffer from this problem of thinking, ‘I am not good enough’. Our self-criticism, guilt, resentment and fear make us feel that way. Nothing to feel ashamed of. The good news is that she also offers some wonderfully simple solutions to this problem. Do you want to try them out, Rahul?’
‘Yes, bhaiyya,’ said Rahul.
‘Okay,’ said Rakesh. ‘So, you said you weren’t good enough, not smart enough, and unpopular. But you have also had past experiences of being brilliant, intelligent and popular too, right? My question to you is, where are these words coming from?’
‘From my experiences, bhaiyya,’ said Rakesh. ‘I’ve been thinking about them a lot.’
‘Exactly,’ said Rakesh. ‘These are merely thoughts triggered by certain incidents. Based on that trigger, you are now creating a bigger story through your thoughts. When your thoughts are negative, you’ll end up painting the worst possible picture, because you are disappointed in yourself and want to hurt yourself. If your thoughts continue like this, you might just give up your course, when you could actually turn things around.’
‘But I cannot control these thoughts, bhaiyya,’ said Rahul. ‘They’re playing non-stop in my head.’
‘Rahul, Louise Hay says our thoughts and words create our experiences,’ said Rakesh. ‘Which means your current thoughts and words are creating your future experiences. As you think in a particular way, you’re creating a pattern, a belief. When your belief is strong enough, it takes over and gives you the experience that matches your belief. Simply put, whatever we’re thinking of, we’re actually wishing for. Creating.’
‘That’s scary,’ said Rahul. ‘How can I change my thoughts?’
‘They are only thoughts, so we can change them. Self-hatred is also a thought; and can be changed. Let’s try it now. What are your current thoughts and what will they create if you continue with them?’
‘That, ‘I am not good enough’, ‘nobody likes me’ and ‘I am a failure’,’ said Rahul. ‘If I continue thinking these thoughts I will become completely useless, nobody will like me and I will give up.’
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‘Great,’ said Rakesh. ‘So, what kind of thoughts would create what you want?’
‘That, ‘I am the best’, ‘Everybody likes me’ and ‘I am highly successful in all that I do’,’ said Rahul. ‘Hah, I feel good just saying that.’
‘Fantastic,’ said Rakesh. ‘You’ve just created positive affirmations for yourself to counter your negative thoughts. Now replace your original thought of ‘I am not good enough’, with the new thoughts of, ‘I am the best’. Or ‘no one likes me’ with ‘everyone loves me’ and ‘I am a failure’ to ‘I am successful at whatever I do’. Simply repeat the new thoughts over and over again like a mantra. Do it loudly. Or quietly. Or write. Tell it to yourself.’
‘But bhaiyya,’ asked Rahul. ‘What about the negative thoughts?’
‘That’s the best part, Rahul,’ said Rakesh. ‘Your mind cannot process two thoughts at the same time. As you repeat the empowering new thought continuously in your mind, your other thoughts have no place there. If by chance a negative thought sneaks in, replace it immediately with your new mantra.’
‘But isn’t the new thought a lie I’m telling myself?’ said Rahul. ‘How can I say that? I feel fake.’
‘That way, even your negative thoughts are not true, right?’ said Rakesh. ‘Your new thought is you at your full potential, what you want to create. When we use positive statements in the present tense we are living that reality now. For example, between ‘I’m the best basketball player’ and ‘I’ll be the best basketball player someday’ which one sounds better?’
‘The first one,’ said Rahul.
‘Exactly,’ said Rakesh. ‘That’s how we’ll frame our positive affirmations or mantras or whatever we want to call them. Our positive affirmations help our confused and low minds, improve our self-esteem, change our thoughts and change our reality. By repeatedly thinking negative thoughts and using negative words about ourselves we go down a seemingly never-ending spiral. By using positive affirmations we do two things — Stop the downward spiral of thoughts and build positive energy thanks to the positive thoughts, thus, creating a new reality.’
‘That’s it?’ asked Rahul. ‘Just replace negative thoughts with positive affirmations?’
‘Yes,’ said Rakesh. ‘Try it. You’ve nothing to lose and everything to gain. If you have something that’s undesirable in your life now, be it at work, relationships, health or whatever, you can use your mind, your thoughts and words to change it, at this moment. Once you see how effectively and elegantly this method works, you can work on more limiting beliefs.’
‘Sure, bhaiyya,’ said Rahul. ‘How many times should I repeat these positive affirmations?’
‘As many times as you tend to repeat negative thoughts, plus some more,’ laughed Rakesh. ‘Overcome your negative thoughts by repeating your positive affirmations. Like any mantra, don’t stop after using them once or twice. Keep at it until you feel your energy change. Hundred, two hundred, four hundred times. Whenever you feel down, when you have time, keep at it. The more the better. Try it now.’
‘Wow,’ said Rinku after ten minutes. ‘It does feel good to say positive, flattering things about myself bhaiyya.’
‘Same here,’ said Rahul. ‘It stopped the negative spiral after a while. I feel much better now.’
‘Super,’ said Rakesh. ‘Our life’s about how good we feel about ourselves. In fact, Louise Hay says that our life works perfectly when we love and approve of ourselves exactly as we are. Her prescription for a good life is to repeat the affirmation ‘I love and approve of myself’ four hundred times every day. Now that you know this powerful and simple technique, use it to change your life.’
Pro Tip: Our thoughts and words create the experiences we have. Our thoughts lead to actions and actions lead to results. By changing our thoughts, we have the power to change our experiences. Replace negative thoughts about yourself and your life with positive affirmations and you will have an empowering experience in life. With practice, you will love and approve of yourself exactly as you are.
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