The power of our thoughts
In one day, we have thousands of thoughts…From the moment we wake up until we fall asleep again, thousands of thoughts are crossing our mind. Instantly, we get into the alert mode thinking about having to do groceries, cook, take the children to school, attend back-to-back appointments. Our life looks very much like a traffic jam. All sorts of negative thoughts spin uncontrollably in our mind and we may not slow down once to pay attention to the thoughts we have. At the end of the day, our body feels tense, tired and overwhelmed. However, despite feeling tired, our mind is still unable to slow down and rest, as it starts to think about what we need to accomplish on the following day. Our mind is like an ocean. The waves bring up to the surface expressions of our ego, anger, ambition, worries, envy, attachment issues, etc. The vibrations of the thoughts we had in the previous day are perceived in the following one and so on. These vibrations are affecting the chemicals from our body, affecting our mental and physical condition. As long as we don't pay attention to them, the waves will continue to hit us and knock us down. How can we start making changes in our life in a way that we start paying more attention to what is happening in our mind?
Our thoughts are the interpretation of our perceptions, which are influenced by our past experiences most of the time. Our perceptions and thoughts shape the reality we encounter. When we believe something will happen, that belief comes from past perceptions and thoughts that had in the past. If we failed an exam once, while we are preparing for the next one, we already start thinking that we will fail this one as well. The familiar past comes into the present moment shaping our perception of the current events from our life. Consequently, by allowing our past to dictate our perception of events from the present time, we already live in the past. If we were told by our parents that we were a burden to them, we internalized that message and, with this belief in mind, we continue to crave having relationships that give us a sense of belonging, love and acceptance. We may engage in these relationships thinking that we need to do everything that stays in our power to avoid causing others to think that we are a burden. We may put our needs aside to attend theirs. We may continue to give them love even when they break our heart. The belief developed early in our life, that we are not lovable, is reinforced repeatedly in the present, causing us to live over and over again the same past experience.
Our thoughts are causing us emotions. Our emotions are not caused by events, but by our interpretation of those events. We tend to pay more attention to the way we feel and often we do not seem to recognize that our thoughts are triggering our emotions. When we attend a gathering and we have a good time, we experience positive emotions, such as joy, happiness, gratitude. These emotions stem from how we think about ourselves and others in that social situation. When we have a fearful thought, the thought will cause us to feel anxiety and we will start thinking more corresponding thoughts equal to how we feel. Consequently, the anxiety feeling will get worse and worse… because we RESIST and AVOID the root cause of our worries and mental tensions. We allow the waves to hit us over and over again, but we don't do anything to attend to the wounds of our inner child.
When we nurture ourselves and we learn to love ourselves unconditionally, we start thinking about ourselves and others in a more realistic and positive way. When our thoughts are positive, they create positive emotions in our heart and positive vibrations in our body that help us heal. When you tell yourself "I love you!", you embrace yourself as you are. You embrace your past, with all your wounds and positive experiences, and you live in the present, enjoying what you have, who you are, with all your imperfections.
We cannot have healthy relationships with others when we don’t have a healthy relationship with ourselves. When we love ourselves, we won’t stay in relationships that DO NOT give us what we need: SAFETY, STABILITY, TRUST and RESPECT.
Take this reading as an opportunity to reflect on the relationship you have with YOURSELF!
