Thinking positive, feeling better…
Monday, March 10th, 2008It takes time! Lately I’ve been seeing/hearing many people expressing the same problem: they’ve tried to change their thoughts from negative to positive, and ditto with their emotional state, but they keep getting pulled back to the negative stuff no matter how hard they try to turn it around.
Thus, they conclude that it’s not working.
WRONG! I’m speaking from my own experience here, but it’s a process, not an instantaneous shift. It’s impossible to leap from one state of consciousness to another in the blink of an eye. That doesn’t mean your efforts aren’t working, it just means you’re not done shifting yet. 
When I think back to the person I was 20 years ago, she’s nothing like the person I am today.
She was extremely unhappy, stressed, depressed. She hated the world and everyone in it, including herself. Especially herself. She was almost always in victim mode, fighting against the injustices that were being done to her by . . . well, almost everyone. Yes, she had her moments of happiness here and there, but they were very fleeting and never lasted long.
The person I am today is pretty much the exact opposite. Almost always happy and optimistic, with maybe a few scarce moments of struggle here and there - but even then mostly surface stuff, nothing major.
What happened? Did I have a near death experience? Did a new, happier soul “walk in” to my body while I was sleeping? Was I abducted by aliens and given a happiness chip implant under my skin? Did I simply get happier as I matured?
No, to all of the above.
What happened is that I CHOSE to become the person I am now. At the time I didn’t see the big picture, of course. I didn’t have a spontaneous vision of myself in the future or anything dramatic like that. I just knew that my own thoughts were working against me and I couldn’t stand to live the rest of my life like that. I had to change if I wanted to live beyond my 25th birthday (either stress would have killed me or I would have killed myself - yes the thought was always there in the back of my mind).
So I started reading and learning about the nature of thoughts and how to change them from negative to positive. Then I started working on doing just that. At first I was only successful part of the time. I’d have maybe 3 positive thoughts nestled in between the 3000 negative ones.
Little by little I started paying more attention to my conscious thoughts throughout the day, and turning them around when I could. (”Wendy, you are so stupid sometimes, I swear . . . - No, wait a minute, that’s not true. I do dumb things sometimes, but that doesn’t make me stupid. It makes me human, and prone to mistakes like everyone else.”)
You get the idea.
Then I started doing the same thing with emotions, choosing to feel more positive - and make myself feel more positive if I didn’t already.
And over a period of several years, it became automatic. I still have my moments when I slip back into old thought and emotional patterns, but it’s rare. And even when it does happen, I’m aware of it immediately and know what to do to turn it around.
Does that mean it will take everyone years to make the transition? Not at all! I admit I’m extremely stubborn and resistant to change, which may be one of the reasons it took so long for me.
But don’t worry about how long it will take. Focus only on right NOW. The more you focus on staying positive in the NOW, the more you’ll strengthen your mind and emotions and train them to veer more toward the positive side. Practice self-awareness as often as you can so you’ll know when you’re moving off track.
And remember one more important thing. As you begin to make the transition, you stop seeing the journey as a “here and there” kind of thing. You stop worrying about trying to move from where you are now to somewhere “better.” The journey itself kind of takes over and you begin appreciating the inner growth and self-mastery - the person you become - rather than worrying about the payoff at the end.
One day you’ll pause along the trail to smell a gorgeous flower - and realize that you are thousands of miles from where you started. And you don’t even have blisters. 
P.S. If you want some good tips on how to feel better fast, I recently read a great e-book on the topic: Feel Better Fast: Emergency Rescue Toolbox for Your Moods.
I’m not affiliated with the author and I don’t get any perks for referring you. Her book is just really good. This lady has gone through hell in her own life and learned how to take charge of her thoughts and emotions. She offers some excellent tips and resources for feeling better fast, just like the title of the book. So check it out if you need some guidance!
Wendy
CreationThoughts.com
WingsfortheHeart.com
Posted in Emotions, Positive Thinking | No Comments »
