Change Your Thoughts - Feel Better
Just the other day, a friend emailed me and told me he was having trouble stopping his thinking about a lot of negative stuff. It made him feel bad and he wanted to think of something else, but he just couldn’t get the thoughts out of his head. He asked for my ideas as to what I thought he might do to feel better and end the negative thinking from visiting so frequently.
I really appreciated being asked because I had struggled with this one myself and I had learned a simple technique that works. It really is just a matter of creating a new habit.
The deal is that this technique is just like swimming or playing tennis. It feels pretty awkward in the beginning. Though the more one practices, the better they feel about it and the better they are at swimming or tennis. True, or no?
So, the technique is to become aware
“Hey, I'm thinking about stuff that doesn't make me feel good right now.” Be aware of it and acknowledge that the thought is there. Then make the decision that you want to feel good (God), right this moment, instead of not feeling good.
Having made that decision, you can now choose to think a thought about the same subject that does feel good to you. For example, if you're upset about your job, say to yourself, “I want to think about all the things I've loved about my job over the years, all the times I've smiled and laughed and known that people appreciate the work that I do.”
By choosing what you think in that moment, you will begin to build the feelings you want to experience rather than give your ego the free reign to jerk you around emotionally. You stop allowing random thoughts that come up as negatives to occupy your thinking space..
You want to understand and operate from the knowledge that whatever you're thinking at the time will attract more thoughts of the same feeling. If they're negative, by the nature of thinking, you attract more negative feeling thoughts, and on and on it goes.
Conversely, if you choose a better feeling thought and actively make a choice to think positive thoughts, then by the nature of thinking, more and more positive thoughts will be attracted. You will automatically begin to feel better and better.
Here's the trick
You have to keep this up, just like going to work everyday, until it becomes a habit and automatic. If you're accustomed to thinking a lot of negative thoughts, it will take more continuous practice.
Don't worry about what happens to the negative thoughts. Just focus all your attention on the positive ones and by the natural, scientific law of positive and negative, the negative thoughts will dissolve over time. As more and more time goes by and you don't allow space for negative thoughts to visit, they simply will stop coming over to visit. Hallelujah!
Hope this helps.