#thepowerofthoughts

There are times in life when we find ourselves in a place where everything seems to be going in the wrong direction: you can't find a job, you just lost your job, bills are piling up, your personal life seems to be on a continual downward spiral...basically anything that can go wrong seems to and relief seems like a foreign concept that only exists for others. Well guess what...we've all been there at one point or another and while it might seem overwhelming there is a way out. Now here's where it might seem a little tricky, but I promise this is definitely something that will make a difference in your life.

 POSITIVITY IS KEY 

   More often then not when faced with mounting problems we are quick to only see the problems we are facing and make that our sole focus. This is where a lot of our problems go from being manageable to overwhelming. If your focus is completely concentrated on how horrible a situation is then how are you supposed to see the light at the end of the tunnel. As the photo above states,” you can't live a positive life with a negative mind". It might sound a bit cliché and even "new age", but it really is that simple. If your mind is focused on the positive changes you are trying to reach as opposed to the existing problems, you will start to see a change in how you feel and react to the things happening in your life. Remember thoughts have power, so the type of energy (negative or positive) you put behind those thoughts makes a huge difference in how you shape your reality. 

FAKE IT?  

  All right so the key is to think positive, exactly how do you all of sudden go from dwelling on the problems to envisioning the solution you want at all times though. You don't. Now let me clarify this. When I say you don't I mean it in the sense that nobody expects you to pull a complete 180 on the way you're thinking or feeling when going through tough times. Everything happens in steps and if you see that you are trying to think positive and find your thinking moving in a negative direction from time to time don't beat yourself up about it or consider it a failure. Yes, the end result is to be positive 100% of the time, but that doesn't mean that it needs to be an instant change. 

  So what do you do then? Well, in the words of my fabulous hypnotherapist, "Fake it, until you make it". Make small steps that you can keep building on. For instance, if you’re having a rough day take a moment to pause and just smile. It might sound a bit silly, but its really hard to be depressed while you're smiling. Find positive things about yourself or in your life that you are grateful for and give thanks for those things. When you start looking at the good things, no matter how small, what you are doing is generating a frequency that is receptive to receiving more of those positive good things.      

BIRDS OF A FEATHER...

   We've all heard the saying before, "Birds of a feather flock together", and I'm here to tell you it's true. If you surround yourself with people who are in a bad place in their lives more likely than not you will start to feel the pull of that negativity. It may seem like a mean thing to do, but if you have people in your life that are negative, you need to cut them out of your life. As sad as it is, you can't change people and you certainly can't help anyone if you yourself are not in a good place. Your focus needs to be on putting yourself on a better path. By no means, however, does this mean that you have to do this at a cost to others. On the contrary, you should always be well aware of how your actions may affect others and do your best to create change through your thoughts and actions without hurting others. If your happiness and improved quality of life requires that you infringe or negatively impact someone else's life than its more likely than not the wrong way to go about it. 

   Try to be around friends and family that provide positive spaces that nurture a positive lifestyle and mentality. If you surround yourself with amazing people who live with a positive mind frame their positivity will start to rub off and they will provide inspiration for your own movement towards positive progression. If you can't seem to find someone right away that provides that inspiration in your life start following different motivational speakers through the different social media outlets. Two of my favorites on Twitter for instance are: Ralph Marston and Damien Echols. They are constantly posting up positive inspirational and motivational tweets. This allows for a daily reminder and boost whenever you may be feeling a little down. 

TIME...

  One thing I want to stress that is of utmost importance: CHANGE DOES NOT OCCUR OVERNIGHT! Don't think that the positive changes you want in your life will appear after a day or two. Like a lot of things in life, this will take time. How much time it takes, however, is completely dependent on you and how much effort you actually put in to it. Put your mind to it and don't give up even when it seems like its not working. Quite often, we get closer to what we want more often then we know, but never reach our goals because we give up right before we're about to attain it. So hold on and stick it out because believe me it's worth it! 

   EASY FOR YOU TO SAY

  Okay, so a lot of you might be thinking right now," Yeah, easier said than done". I don't blame you. It seems like it's always a lot easier to dish out advice than to actually act on it. In this instance, however, I can say that I can offer the advice and attest to its effectiveness because I have experienced it myself. I will admit, initially I was just as skeptical as many of you may be as you're reading this, but changing the way I thought really made a huge impact on my life. 

    I set a goal in my mind and I refused to back down from it no matter how unlikely it seemed at the time. I struggled in the beginning and there was a lot of faking it (believe me), but eventually I found myself at a point where I no longer needed to fake it because I literally was seeing the positive changes so it was easy to BE and FEEL positive all the time. At first, the things I gave thanks for were oftentimes very small, but were things that provided a starting point for positive changes. As I started to see things moving in a positive direction I set up more goals and started expanding on the things I was grateful for. The more positive I began to feel the more I also began to expect and envision more positive changes in my life because I no longer felt limited by circumstances that were out of my control and with time I have seen my life progress in a positive direction. 

    It had been a work in progress over the last couple of months, but I can honestly say that now there are times that I can't even remember why I ever thought in any other way other then positively. When you realize that your mind can affect change in your quality of life and you test it out and it works, you begin to realize that thinking positive at all times, which seemed so hard in the beginning, will become second nature and your life will reflect that. Remember you are only limited by your thoughts so why limit yourself at all...leave the bad behind and stretch your thoughts forward towards a better path.