Chapter 2
- Positive Thinking
- You Can Choose Your Thoughts
- Starve Your Negative Emotions
- Two Time Periods
- Action Exercises
If you paint in your mind a picture of bright and happy expectations, you put yourself into a condition conducive to your goals.
When you change the quality of your thinking, you change the quality of your life, sometimes instantly.
Positive Thinking
Positive thoughts are life enhancing. They empower you and make you feel stronger and more confident. Positive thinking is not just a motivational idea. It has a measureable, constructive effects on your personality, your health, your levels of energy, and your creativity. The more positive and optimistic you are, the happier you will be in every area of your life.
Your goal, therefore, if you want to live a wonderful life, is to cultivate positive emotions and get rid of negative emotions. (19)
The elimination of negative emotions is the most important single step you can take toward health, happiness, and personal well-being. Each time you take complete control over your thoughts and feelings, and discipline yourself to keep them positive, the quality of both your inner and outer lives improves. In the absence of negative emotions, your mind automatically fills with the positive emotions that generate feelings of happiness and fulfilment.
You Can Choose Your Thoughts
The Law of Substitution says,
Your mind can hold only one thought at a time, positive or negative. You can substitute a positive thought for a negative thought whenever you choose.
You can apply this law by deliberately thinking about something positive whenever you want to cancel out a thought or feeling that makes you angry or unhappy.
Starve Your Negative Emotions
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Two Time Periods
Many people spend most of their emotional energies being upset and angry about events that occurred in the past. Unfortunately, this energy is completely wasted. Nothing good can come of constantly complaining about the past. Even worse, the negative emotions kept alive by reliving past events rob you of the joy and excitement that you could experience by thinking about future possibilities.
Action Exercises
1. Resolve today that you are going to be completely happy person. Now ask, “What is it in my life that makes me unhappy or causes me stress?” Whatever your answer, decide to deal with it and eliminate it.
2. Recall an experience from your childhood that you are still angry about. Now reinterpret that experience positively and view it as a valuable learning experience.
3. In what areas of your life are you angry or resentful because you are sill blaming someone for something he did or didn’t do? Whatever it is, accept responsibility and get on with your life.
4. Don’t take things personally anymore. From now on, when people do not respect you or treat you as you wish to be treated, rise above it and go about your business.
5. Make a decision today to forgive everyone in your past toward whom you still feel angry negative emotion. Let them go and let yourself go at the same time.
6. Forgive yourself for every mistake you have made. If it is appropriate, go and ask forgiveness of the other person. Set yourself free.