The Power of Our Thoughts: How to Use Positive Thinking to Change Your Life

Our thoughts create our reality. This concept has been recognized as far back as we have records of writing, all the way back to ancient Greece.

What does this mean? Quite simply, thoughts we have, particularly those with which we dwell on often and with emotion, eventually come into reality.

That our thoughts create reality means that if you dwell on negative things often and with emotion, those will come to pass. The same is true for positive thinking.

Positive thinking has received the most press. It has been applied to everything from winning friends, making money and creating peace. Often, waves of these books will be published at times when they are needed most, in order to help people regain their faith in life, and feel empowered rather than helpless or a victim.

In the late1930’s, toward the end of the Depression era, were popular books such as Dale Carnegie’s “How to Win Friends and Influence People”, and Norman Vincent Peale’s “The Power of Positive Thinking”. Today, in a world faced with war and poverty, Wayne Dyer’s “The Power of Intention”, and the movie and book “The Secret”, are the top sellers of our time. People everywhere and in every profession and walk of life learn the concept of positive thinking, and how it creates the kind of life you want.

An example of positive thinking goes like this: Instead of saying, “I’m always broke” or, “I hate my job,” you retrain your mind to not even entertain those thoughts, as they will bring about exactly what you don’t want. Then, you focus on gratitude – noticing and giving thanks for all that you do have. This sets the stage for a positive feeling and puts you in a place of abundance, rather than lack. Finally, you would think, or even better, write it or say out loud, “I have all the money I desire and require,” or “I have a job that I love.”

You state your wish in the present, as if it is actually happening, and drum up a mental picture of yourself having that thing. Don’t’ be shy – go into great detail! You muster up positive emotion to go with the mental picture, and you do this daily, especially upon waking or just before sleeping. It sounds simple, but most people don’t devote the time or drum up the emotion that is required to bring their thoughts to reality. And while you are “waiting” for your thoughts to come to being, get yourself in the best shape possible: eat right, exercise, and take ten minutes of quiet time, preferably outdoors, every day.

What many of us do instead, is fret (with emotion) about the money or friends or health we don’t have, or the war or poverty in the world. If we can use the energy that we use to complain, or gossip, or fear, into gratitude and positive thinking, we will see our lives changing for the better.

Make a commitment to yourself to try this for 30 days. Monitor your thinking, especially the things you seem most anxious about. Whenever a negative thought pops into your head, immediately change it to the positive. And, spend time just after waking or just before sleep “seeing” and stating what you want to happen in your life. You do have the power to change your life – and it all starts with your thinking!