If you observe your own thinking and how your mind interacts with the world, you become a passenger on a wild ride through a theme park. You can be a witness to all the noise and mayhem that comes with a polluted mind that won’t stay in the moment.
People are constantly dealing with their thoughts that focus on “getting” and “having” and “becoming.” We are attached to owning something or attached to becoming something.
When things are not going as planned, your mind flips into worry mode. Worry is always grounded in the fear of the future. Worrisome thoughts are thoughts we give permission to take control of our state of mind. We worry when we lack trust or faith. It won’t work out. You could fail. This could happen or that could happen.
When things are not going as planned, your mind flips into worry mode. Worry is always grounded in the fear of the future. Worrisome thoughts are thoughts we give permission to take control of our state of mind. We worry when we lack trust or faith. It won’t work out. You could fail. This could happen or that could happen.
Your thoughts start to play out the worst-case scenarios of a bad outcome that results in you ending up empty handed, broke, or alone.
Worry is a broken loop of fear. This is a daily struggle with the mind. You want to trust in something bigger than yourself, but you can’t. So, how can you fight back against the loop of fear that worry creates? How do you stop worrying about the future “possibilities” and start living? You’ll need to bring yourself back to the present moment. It starts with reframing your situation and life in a positive framework.
We always have ideas, voices and opinions, mixed with conflicting thoughts based on information we are not entirely sure is correct. How do you separate the good from the bad? How can you trust what is real and what is misleading? How do you stay mindful when your mind wants to wander, explore, and create its own reality without permission?
The strategy I use to filter out the thoughts I don’t need is a mental discipline that gets you to focus in on just the present moment. As most of your thoughts jump around and can be in the past one minute and the present the next, this form of mental conditioning — also known as reframing your thinking portal — works because it turns down the volume on noisy, intrusive thoughts.
Worry is conditioning your thoughts to fear. If you were raised by fearful parents, and spent most of your youth surrounded by fearful people, then being a worrier will seem the best course of action. This way, you build up your fears of the future and don’t take any action for fear of failing.
Right now, make a list of three areas of your life you consistently worry about. Knowing what your triggers are plays a big part in this. Then, when you think about these areas, what thoughts enter your mind? Common themes are thoughts of scarcity, losing something valuable, failing fast, or being embarrassed if your master plan doesn’t work out.
You can empower your thoughts by feeding empowering messages to your mind. It works like the body. If you eat crap and junk food, you’re going to feel like a physical garbage can. The mind is no different. Worrisome thoughts generate anxiety. You only get out of it what you feed into it.
Worry thoughts are fabrications
Worry is believing in false stories that have not come true. You worry about having no money, and yet, there is no evidence to suggest you will always be broke. Maybe you worry about your health and that you might get sick. Well, you will not be healthy forever, you know that. But you have your health today, don’t you? Worrisome thoughts are grounded in future fear, like most things we stress about.
Worry is another form of fear. We create most of our fears. They play out in our minds and take over all common sense. From now on, feed your mind the good stuff it really wants. Try these affirmations instead:
“I am not worried about tomorrow because today is perfect. The here and now is what I have.”
“I always worry about losing my job, but this has never happened to me. I am a good employee and the company I work for values its workers. Why would I think it could happen now?”
Break down your worrisome thoughts and expose these demons for what they are: False fabrications that rarely happen. Worry is a habit, and you can break any habit. But you can make your worrisome beliefs come true, too. If you believe that you will be broke, lose your health, or get divorced, then by carrying this worry around with you can manifest it to come true.
Remember: Thoughts have power and can draw toward you the bad as well as the good. If you think you’re going to lose your job, you might show up at work acting like someone who doesn’t deserve to be there.
Negative thinking: hardwired for fear
Positive thinking only works if you truly believe the message you’re sending to your brain.
There are a few things I want to say about negative thinking. We tend to see negative thinking as something bad that you should be ashamed of. I’ll admit that thinking positively and acting in a positive manner is much better than doing things in a negative way. But, it’s a philosophy of mine that negative energy is just as important as positive energy.
How can that be?
You must walk through a mile of slimy mud sometimes before you can get to the green grass on the other end. In other words, being negative and experiencing the suffering that goes with it can be a great motivator for making the decision to change.
Negative thinking is a sign that something is not right with your life. Believe it or not, some people seem to enjoy the attention they receive from negative thinking.
If you have a negative attitude, and you are not happy with this, deciding to switch over to a positive frame of mind requires that you take intentional action to get your momentum moving.
I truly believe that living a positive lifestyle has very little to do with how much you own or how successful you are. It comes down to attitude in every aspect of your life. If all it took was money and popularity, then there wouldn’t be any misery with people who seemingly have everything.
Thoughts and circumstances: how to attract what you want
If you are unhappy with your present circumstances, whether it be your job, relationships, or current state of mind, there is only one way to change it: Think differently. I know this sounds like an obvious piece of advice, but there are reasons for this.
Do you know what happens when you think differently? Things on the outside begin to change. Your situation can only change if you do. Here is why.
Your outer world will always reflect the inner. Your success or failure is based on the success and failure going on inside. Succeed in programming your thoughts for having positive experiences and that is what will happen.
People have been known to alter the course of their lives with a shift in attitude. Can you imagine where you would be if you focused everything you had on thinking with a positive attitude? This isn’t to say thinking alone will change you, but without it, we can’t follow up with positive actions.
What exactly are positive actions? Some examples are: helping people, working toward goals that get you unstuck, streamlining your efforts to make life worth living for yourself and those around.
The circumstances of this life do not control you. While we can’t always choose our circumstances, we can decide how to view them. It is just a matter of fact that bad things happen. Life doesn’t go according to plan, and it isn’t always fun — no matter who you are or how positive your thoughts may be. But you can train yourself in the best way to deal with it.
