“One’s own thought is one’s world. What a person thinks is what he becomes−That is the eternal mystery.” –The Upanishads
There are many, many books about the power of our thoughts. A few that come to mind include The Power of Positive Thinking, Think and Grow Rich, As a Man Thinketh and The Secret. And even back in pre-Buddhist India, mystics were telling us what we think we become . . . So why do we need to hear this message over and over?
Maybe these sages just want to remind us that we actually created the life we have right now the good and the bad of it. We are responsible for who we have become. We tend to look at the actions we took or the decisions we made or the circumstances that have shaped us. Yet as we took action, made decisions and lived our circumstances, our thoughts were always there, making assumptions, assessing, monitoring and running the show.
Quite frankly, no self-help book is going to change that. This blog won’t even change that. However, maybe there will be that one thought you have for the 400th or 4000th time, and you may find the space and pause. And, in that pause the thoughts may hang back, and we may start to feel connected to something other than what we always thought to be the truth . . . here, it can be a great time to ask:
- What am I thinking right now?
- Are these thoughts nourishing me?
- What thoughts hold me back?
- What is my daily running monologue?
- What if I assumed positive regard at all times?
- What possibilities or options become available as I quiet my thoughts?
- What new thought can I experiment with today?
- What will I create in this moment?
When we pause our ever-thinking mind and look to a new view a new way, we can create anything. And I mean anything.
Have fun trying on new thoughts.