The most profound agents of creation are invisible.
The three that spring immediately to mind are God,
biological conception, and thought. With enough
technology, and no privacy whatsoever, we could probably
monitor conception, but neither God nor thought can be
made visible. We do, however, enjoy the benefits of
God's creations each moment and also reap the fruits of
our thoughts throughout our entire lives.
Wisdom teachers through the ages have taught about the
awesome creative power of thought. The Buddha, for
instance, said, "All that we are is the result of
what we have thought." Ralph Waldo Emerson
agreed and said, "What a man thinks of himself, that
is which determines, or rather, indicates, his
fate." Mary Baker Eddy, founder of the
Christian Science Church, said, "Stand porter at the
door of thought. Admitting only such conclusions as
you wish realized in bodily results, you will control
yourself harmoniously." And the great sage,
Anonymous (who was very often a woman!), states, "Sow
a thought, and you reap an act; sow an act, and you reap a
habit."
If you wonder about the power of thought, remember a dream
that affected you deeply. Dreams are nocturnal
thoughts that often cause reactions as intense as do
actual occurrences. The other night I dreamed I was
waiting at a train station for friends with whom I was
going on a trip.
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Departure
time loomed and no friends appeared. With each
passing moment, I became more anxious. When I bolted
awake, my heart was beating rapidly and I was awash in
anxiety symptoms.
Usually we can slough off the effects of dreams, but we
cannot so easily avoid the consequences of habitual
thought patterns. Thoughts act as powerful magnets
drawing to us that which we fear or imagine.
Luckily, thoughts are equal opportunity creators, and when
we cultivate the habit of positive and affirmative
thinking, we also draw wonderful people and experiences to
us.
Thinking Is the Birth of Feeling
More than one thought track is generally active in our
minds at the same time. Some are closer to the
surface of consciousness than others, but we are
constantly thinking and talking to ourselves. These
internal conversations are called "self-talk."
Listen to what you're saying to yourself in the privacy of
your own mind. If what you habitually tell yourself
is optimistic, uplifting, and loving, you're certain to be
a person who feels happy and energized. If the tone
of your thoughts is self-recriminating, resistant, or
pessimistic, you'll inevitable feel down and
depressed. Thinking is the birth of feeling.
Negative, fearful self-talk undermines your self-esteem,
creates painful feelings, and makes emotional strength
difficult to attain. One of the quickest ways to
become anxious is to let yourself worry about the
future. I call this falling in the Future
Hole. Future Hole self-talk statements often start
out, "What if. . . "; "I couldn't handle. .
. "; "I'm afraid that. . . ."
Our minds, if undisciplined, wander easily from the here
and now into projections of the future. We need to
plan for the future, but not worry. Planning creates
security; worry creates anxiety. Planning is
empowering; worrying accentuates helplessness.
Check your self-talk. How do you speak to
yourself? Are you kind, encouraging, and
upbeat? Would you talk similarly to a close
friend? Are your thoughts contributing positively or
negatively to your feelings? It isn't circumstance
that creates our feelings; it's our thoughts about
circumstances that give birth to our feelings. . . .
Your feelings, and the thoughts that created them, are
your own responsibility, nobody else's. If you want
to change your feelings, take responsibility for changing
your thoughts. Choosing to change your thoughts can
release you from the victim role. When our thoughts
and feelings are mainly positive, supportive, and
life-affirming, self-esteem soars.
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more
on thoughts
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The biggest quality in
successful people I think is an impatience with negative thinking. . . .
How many opportunities come along? If you wait for the right one,
that's wrong,
because it may never be right, and what have you got to
lose? Even if it's a disaster,
you've tried, you've learned
something, you've had an adventure.
And that doesn't mean you can't
do it again.
Edward McCabe |
