THE POWER OF POSITIVE THINKING

Keep your thoughts positive because your thoughts become your words.
Keep your words positive because your words become your behaviors.
Keep your behaviors positive because your behaviors become your habits.
Keep your habits positive because your habits become your values.
Keep your values positive because your values become your destiny. – Gandhi

Did you know how you think has a ton of power over your happiness?

It’s true. How we think shapes how we act, how we react, and ultimately, how we create our destiny and fulfill our purpose.

Although you can’t change certain things that happen—or have happened to you in the past—each day, you choose how to respond to them.

It might not feel that way at first, but a little practice with positive thinking makes a huge difference.

How Powerful is Positive Thinking?

Think about how you generally respond to a frustrating situation, such as dealing with a challenging person at work. It’s not uncommon to let a negative experience snowball. You might take the experience personally, or you might come home and be reminded that the house is still a mess, the dishes in the sink are still dirty, you’re tired, etc.

When life is already overwhelming you, it’s easy to engage in catastrophic thinking where everything seems to be going wrong.

But what if you make the choice to find the POSITIVES in your day? Maybe you learn something from the work situation that will make you more prepared next time. Maybe you feel proud of yourself for getting through that situation, and remind yourself of your strengths. And maybe you come home to a messy house, but you suddenly remember, amidst all that, you are welcomed home by people who love you, a true blessing.

You might be surprised just how much that changes the outcome of your day.

And what if you continue this for more days… weeks… years! What if you kept up this practice for the rest of your life? Just think of the possibilities.

And think about someone who is always saying, “oh, nothing good ever happens to me!” That may be the case, but is it because they are doomed for life… or because they BELIEVE nothing good ever happens to them?

What if this person started thinking, “Good things will happen to me”? What if they started to look for positives in their life instead of focusing on the negative? Would they begin to manifest more positive experiences through more positive thinking?

Well, I think you likely know the answer. 🙂

A great analogy for this comes from James Allen in his book “As a Man Thinketh” where he compares the mind to a garden. A garden can only yield beautiful, well-watered plants if it is tended to regularly and nurtured. But if you neglect your beautiful garden, the plants will start to wither and die as weeds take over.

Our minds are the same way. Healthy, positive thoughts are your mind’s “water.” Thinking positively daily keeps your garden growing and abundant. But too many negatives thoughts, over time, will allow your weeds to creep in, withering your mind. So when you practice positive thinking, it just continues to grow beauty in your mind and life.

Of course, life does still happen and bad experiences come our way, and this is not to say we should pretend bad things don’t happen to us.

The point is that watching how you think and what you say about those experiences is important. Your thoughts help shape your inner (and outer) world. Why not use them to increase your happiness and cultivate more positivity each day?