Having trouble changing your thoughts?

As a man thinketh so is he”

This is one of the fundamental principles in life that we find in every major religion and philosophy.  Our thoughts create our reality.  Our thoughts determine what we will be, do and attract.  Our thoughts are the most powerful things in our life.

Unfortunately, most of us are not even aware of our thoughts.  Years of socialization have filtered out what society labels “bad” and instilled what society labels “good”.  These become habitual and unconscious so that we go about our lives unaware of what we are thinking.  Sometimes we don’t like the way our lives are progressing, so we try to change our behaviour e.g. I hate being fat, I am going to cut down on how much I eat.  What we fail to realize is that behind the behaviour is a belief, and behind that belief is a thought that we have repeated to ourselves over and over until it has become our habit – and our truth.

We hear on one level that to change our life, we must change our thoughts.  The first step is to watch your thoughts – easier said than done, for we have hundreds of thoughts each day.  We do have a little compass that we can watch though – our words.  Our words are the verbalization of our thoughts.  If we start becoming aware of and listening to our words, we can get a clue about our thoughts.  And the nice thing is that if we change our words, we can actually start shifting our thoughts!

Let me give you an example – this is my second year living in Canada.  I have come to realize that Canada seems to have five seasons – spring, summer, fall, winter and flu!  There are advertisements all over the place announcing with glee “Flu season has arrived”.   Now, read and hear those often enough and what thought gets embedded into your mind?  “Flu season?  Better join the party and get the flu”.  What fun …. NOT!

For the past 10 days, I have had coughing, chills, congestion and a stuffy nose.  Knowing that I do not like to entertain sickness in my life (note my choice of words), I have been watching my words very, very carefully.  So, instead of “I am sick” or “I have the flu” – I tell people that “there are some flu-like symptoms that would like to lodge themselves in my body”.  Note now, that the idea planted in my mind is that I have a choice as to whether these flu-like symptoms will take residence in me!  Another common statement we make is that we are “fighting the flu”.  Well, we do know that what we resist, persists, so I careful state “I am releasing flu-like symptoms from my body”.

I am delighted to tell you that the flu-like symptoms are disappearing.    What’s more powerful for me is that I notice how much more aware I am of what I am saying – and thinking.

Just for today – listen to your words.  Become aware of what you are saying about yourself and others.   Just listen ….. you might discover something ….