Now is the time to say “Yes to the life I envision!” Enough of excuses. Stop funneling your energy toward fears, resentments and guilt. This is a draining way of living life, yet most of us live this way, usually pushing these negative toward the back of our minds and automatically living our lives. We become reactive toward what is happening to us and around us. We wake up in the morning often experiencing a dreadful feeling, preferring to stay in the comfort of our beds, wrapped in our sheets.
What can we do to shift our lives? To allow joy, anticipation and hope back in? First of all, honesty is the key. Become aware of your thoughts. Become quiet and really listen to the thoughts that pop into your mind. You will be amazed by what you are actually thinking. These are often called automatic thoughts that came to be from messages we heard in childhood and as we picked up along in our lives from significant people in our lives and society. They are perpetuated by our ignorance of them or unwillingness to acknowledge them. They often steer our lives unconsciously as we are heavily influenced by our thoughts and beliefs.
I will give you an example in my own life. I consider myself a positive person; a person who views the glass of water half full. A few years ago I decided I was going to become more aware of myself and my thoughts. I was aghast to realize that many of my automatic thoughts were negative toward me and others. They were judgemental. I couldn’t believe it. Honestly, I was shocked at my inner self. As a result of my awareness, however, I was able to understand the correlation of these negative thoughts with the challenges or trouble spots in my life. I started to consciously refocus my thoughts and steer them in the direction of where I wanted my life to go forward. As a result, I feel more content, free and optimistic.
Here a few steps you can implement to gain control over your thought processes and feel increasingly joyful.
- Be quiet and become aware of your automatic thoughts.
- Write them down.
- Become aware of the correlation of these negative thoughts and problem areas in your life.
- Choose your positive thoughts and replace them every time you become aware of a limiting thought.
By making this a habit in your life, you will gain control over your actions and feel the power to make decisions to allow you to live the life you envision!
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