The Power Of Thought
Have you ever made New Years resolutions with such zeal and enthusiasm on the 31st of December only to have broken each one by January 7th (or sooner)? Why is this?
I know many souls who upon asking them, what is your resolution this year, reply glibly, “The same one I made last year!” Hopelessly and with expectance we watch each resolve fade and break away, such that by this point, most of us barely hold on to the possibility of effecting change in our lives at all. Often we believe we are incapable of keeping a promise. We have broken so many in the past. Perhaps we wish to lose weight, or stop smoking, or be kinder, less reactive to things beyond our control; other people, circumstances or events, thereby building a stress-free life complete with happiness, peace and improved health.
Whatever the change in behavior I wish to see in my life, I must first begin to realize that thoughts are like seeds. Whatever my thoughts, so will be my attitude and behavior. So the emphasis needs to shift, not so much on the behavior, as the thinking which creates it. Your thoughts can be your own best friend or your own worst enemy.
Where does your experience of happiness or sorrow take place? … in your mind. The person or event etc. to whom we have assigned “blame” for our experience of sorrow or stress etc. is not in my mind. I control my own thinking. Do you not think your own thoughts? Yes, there are many things out there that will try to influence the way I feel, but I decide how I think, and how I feel. I choose what things I will let in, and what things I will leave out. We are careful not to ingest poisonous food for the body and yet often we allow the mind to “eat” whatever poisonous thoughts are offered to us. If you keep a diet of “junk” food or spoiled and rotten foods you will get an upset stomach and your physical health will deteriorate. In the same way if you permit yourself to think negative, sad or worrisome thoughts, you can expect to have an upset mind, to suffer the illness of sorrow, peacelessness and stress. My mental heath will begin to deteriorate as well. If on the other hand I imbibe only those thoughts which will feed my mind in a healthy way, I will begin to have control of my mind to such an extent that I am free from the common stresses and sorrows of this life. I begin to enjoy a life of constant happiness, peace and well-being.
When I am not in the practice of checking the quality of my thoughts throughout the day, my mind will begin to race and I will react sensitively to little things. I become vulnerable to the opinions of others as well as my own limited way of understanding.
You are what you think. Love, peace, wisdom, happiness … the more you think of these things, the more you will become them. When you build a house, every brick counts. When you build character, every thought counts. Whatever I wish to achieve … nothing happens until I first think about it. Thought precedes everything, so make your thoughts strong and happy and so will be your experience.
A very wise friend (Dadi Janki) once said “When you talk to yourself in your mind, which self do you address, and how do you speak to yourself? Usually, most do not speak to their divinity, but to the most superficial aspects of their every day personality. Often it’s a stream of fears, complaints, and a mindless repetition of old things. If we talked that way to others, we would have to apologize.”
“Learning to talk properly to the self is a spiritual endeavor. Thoughts from the past and worries about the future do no make good conversation. Instead, learn to talk to your mind as if it were a child. Talk to it with love. If you just force a child to sit down … he won’t. A good mother knows how to prompt a child into doing what she wants. Be a good mother to your mind. Teach it good, positive thoughts so that when you tell it to sit quietly, it will.”
Would you like to get rid of 2/3 of your sorrow right now? It’s very easy. So easy, you’ll wonder why you didn’t think of it years ago. … Don’t think of the past or future.
You have enough to deal with; just with what’s happening in the present, don’t you? The past is finished, nothing I can do about it. I have no connection with it. No matter how much I cry or complain not a single moment of the past can be changed. Once the photo has been taken, there’s nothing I can change in it. I can complain that I wish I had worn a different color lipstick, or my hair was different, but no matter how I complain, that picture has already been shot! I can learn for the future picture that blue lipstick really doesn’t look very good on me … but that picture; there is nothing I can do about.
The future is equally elusive. When does the future come? … tomorrow? When tomorrow comes, that’s today! I have nothing but now … right this moment. Thinking of the past or the future is what we call waste thoughts. No benefit can come from this way of thinking. But as we have experienced for ourselves, what can and does come from this way of thinking is sorrow, stress and anxiety. I need to be aware of how much damage is being caused by negative thoughts. Negative, wasteful thinking over a long period of time will drag me down so low that I, out of self preservation, begin to call it “up”! I must first change myself, and then I can change the world.
If I want to see peace in the world, for example, I must be that peace. What is the world made up of after all? ….. People! Not governments, communities or organizations … but people, and people are made up of their thinking! I wish to see peace between countries that don’t speak the same language, have different features and customs and yet I can’t make peace in my own country … because there isn’t even peace in a state …. or peace in one city …. or even in one neighborhood …. or even in my own family, my own household …. Because there isn’t even peace within my own self!!!
So the first thing I must do is change my attitude and behavior. Then, as I change it will have an impact, and be an inspiration for others to change as well.
by BK Bhavna
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January 5th, 2008 @ 9:53 pm
Don’t Set Any Goals This New Year . . . Without Applying The 60-40 Rule
People traditionally set resolutions for the New Year. Ever notice, though, that setting long-term goals doesn’t work? The problem is goals are made in the present, for the future. But the present is always changing. If you’ve set a static goal for a future time in an ever changing present, it’s almost impossible to meet that goal. Not all is lost! Here’s a new way to accomplish all you’ve set out to achieve - the 60-40 Rule.
By Susan L Reid
It’s that time again — the time when people traditionally set resolutions for the New Year. Have you noticed, though, that setting long-term goals doesn’t work? No matter how convicted you feel about your New Year’s resolutions, the more rigidly you adhere to whatever goals you’ve set for yourself, the harder it will be to reach them.
Why? Because the problem with goals is that they are made in the present, to be fulfilled in the future. But the present is always changing. That means the future is always changing, too. So, if you’ve created a static goal for a future time in a dynamic and ever changing present, it’s almost impossible to attain that goal. This is why, after the first couple of weeks of working toward your goal, setbacks often occur. Before you know it, you’re off the mark, struggling to get back on task, wondering if you will ever reach your goal.
Not all is lost. Human beings aren’t static, so why should their goals be? There is a way to meet your goals and to accomplish all that you have set out to achieve this New Year. The only thing is, it’s different from what you’re used to doing, and it will require setting aside your old way of setting goals. This new way of setting goals is what I call the 60-40 Rule.
The 60-40 Rule
Never heard of the 60-40 rule? Well, now you have. The 60-40 rule states that, once you set a goal, 60% of your action is to be taken in the present; only 40% of your action is to be taken in the future. This rule does three things that the traditional way of setting goals does not:
1. It takes into account the dynamic, ever changing present that we all live in.
2. It sets the intention for your goal to be fulfilled.
3. It puts you in energetic vibration with prosperity and abundance, making manifestation of your goals just a matter of time.
Of course, you can increase the percentage of action to be taken in the present to 70%, 80%, even 90%, or more. The higher the percentage of action in the now, the faster your goal will be reached. However, there still has to be some percentage in the future — even if it’s just 2%. After all, that’s what makes it a goal. Still, anything less than 60% in the now makes your goal just a wish, a want, and a dream that may never be fulfilled.
Contemporary spiritual teacher Eckhart Tolle says it best:
“There’s nothing wrong with goals and trying to fulfill them — as long as the main focal point of your attention remains the present moment. It’s like being on a journey and knowing where you want to get to, but realizing at the same time that the entire journey ultimately consists of one step — the step you’re taking at this moment. That one step is all there ever is, and so you give it your fullest attention. In other words, the step you’re taking now is primary; the destination - the goal - is secondary. If the destination becomes primary, you will become stressed and anxious and you will miss life. You will suffer, and the destination will not make you happy even when you get there, when you attain your goals.”
Do yourself a favor this New Year. Don’t waste your time setting goals if you aren’t committed to spending 60% of your action toward your goal right now, in the red, hot present. Whether in business or in your personal life, set attainable goals that you know you can reach, rather than rigid, ultimatum-driven goals that are doomed from the start. Then, follow the 60-40 Rule to achieve them. Take 60% of your action toward your goal today with only 40% of your action remaining for the future. Remember, you aren’t static. Why should your goals be?
Small Business Start Up Coach, Consultant, & Author takes the fear out of starting up businesses by providing value, inspiration, and direction to entrepreneurial women transforming lives and making a difference in the world. Accidental Pren-her™ Blog is where entrepreneurial women come to embrace their Inner Samurai.
January 5th, 2008 @ 10:17 pm
I Am A One Person Revolution
Revolutioniz is a New Program Designed to Reorder Your Brain Waves For Success In All Areas Of Your Life!!
By Kate Loving Shenk
The revolution is here.
It isn’t out there in the world with violence and uprisings and upheaval.
It starts within your deepest inner most being.
The energy of the revolution is quiet.
It doesn’t create drama or stories that perpetrate drama.
I am a one person revolution.
And so are you.
As we learn to apply all the Universal Laws to each circumstance of our lives: the Law of Attraction, the Law of Vibration,the Law of Karma, (cause and effect), the Law of Gratitude, the Law of Love, the Law of Allowance, we can draw upon the infinite field of all possibilities that these laws represent, and consciously create the world of our dearest dreams.
For many people, the field of unlimited possibilities was first glimpsed when The Secret DVD was released.
This movie changed the consciousness of many and continues to do so.
Of course, these ideas are not new. But as they are mainstreamed into the consciousness of ordinary people, and as more people open their minds to these concepts instead of resisting them, we will realize a much more interesting world to live, move and breathe in.
Old paradigms die hard.
Thoughts such as blame, guilt, shame, poverty consciousness, fear of old age and disease, fear of lost youth, pain and death have previously been the reality of most of the people on the planet.
Now, opportunities abound for releasing these negative beliefs, thus transforming our lives to the One Person Revolution.
Henk Schram and Nikolas Kidd have just launched their beautiful work entitled: “Revolutioniz: Harness The Hidden Laws of the Universe.”
I read every word and loved the feeling of Peak Potentiality it released within my psyche!
I love the idea that I am a One Person Revolution, like Gandhi, Martin Luther King, and like Ammon Hennacy, friend of Dorothy Day.
Ammon was a family friend in the 1950’s and 1960’s. He walked everywhere in the name of World Peace and love, like Peace Pilgrim. His headquarters was at the Catholic Worker in New York City where feeding the hungry and raising consciousness was a daily activity.
He refused to pay taxes and landed in jail more than I can count, because of these acts of protest.
He learned from his prison experiences that the prison is in the mind.
He learned that the sadistic warden was a projection of his own mind.
Sources of joy, love and happiness come from the mind, as well.
The Kingdom of God lies within us all, as well as the self-imposed prison of neglect and self-punishment.
Heaven or Hell—it’s your choice.
Revolutioniz is a well researched book leading the reader to self-discovery. The ideas presented by the authors are not new, and can be traced to Indigenous Religions, the Tao, ancient China, Greece and Rome.
These ideas can also be traced to the teachings of Jesus Christ, Krishna and Mohammad.
Universal Truth is present in all of these.
Henk and Nikolas have provided a visualization tool software program with the Revolutioniz package.
I am REALLY having fun with this.
The idea is to frame a goal whether in the realm of family, business, relationships etc, in the present tense.
Visualize your goal with all 5 senses. This helps to make the visualization real and believable and helps you get very excited!
As you do the visualization, jump up and down in child-like ecstasy!!
Do this three times a day!! Then let go of outcome completely.
The software program leads you through the process. You then print out the statements and carry them around with you.
Another tool Henk and Nikolas recommend is to always carry around a notebook with you, and write down every idea that flows into your consciousness.
Writers are known to do this as a way of honoring the Muse.
But the Muse is present in all activities, because life itself is a creative process!!
So the notebook serves to record a thought that will be forgotten if this step is skipped.
Believe me, I’ve learned this the hard way!
The Laws of the Universe mentioned at the beginning of this article guide us in this revolution and are the road map, if you will.
The concept of Gratitude, for instance, is so greatly overused that people walk the talk instead of walking the walk on this one.
But I recently had the revelation that all things in my life serve to make me a better person, certainly a person with greater character, a stronger more resilient person.
The unseen world has far reaching influences. What I see is not the sum total of anything.
And the unseen world is nothing but Love.
How could anything be negative, evil or bad? Only my thinking makes it so.
I love the prison of my mind!!
I love the freedom of my mind!!
All of it is who I am.
The One Person Revolution is a shared journey.
By living it and passing it on, we make the world a better place.
But let it begin with me.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=–=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Kate Loving Shenk is a writer, healer, musician and the creator of the e-book called “Transform Your Nursing Career and Discover Your Calling and Destiny.” Click here to find out how to order the e-book: http://www.nursingcareertransformation.com Check Out Kate’s Blog: http://www.nursehealers.typepad.com -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Article republished from Copy & Paste Articles