How 'independent' is your thought life?

In a few days, this nation will be celebrating the 4th of July, the day we remember as declaring our independence from British rule. Of course, nothing changed immediately…but the decision and course for our future was laid.

This reminds me of what happens when we make a decision to change…nothing happens immediately except for the huge fact that we set in motion a course for our future.

Will we arrive at our destination (same root word as destiny) without any bumps along the way? Will we arrive at all? That depends on whether we let those bumps and apparent setbacks dissuade us. We don’t have to; we can stay the course unnerved with a little practice and understanding of what’s going on.

I’m slowly reading through a great book (which I can’t recommend only because it’s not an easy read…therefore I’m not far enough through it to know whether the whole thing is good). I’ve read the following two paragraphs over and over. I think it’s worth the read for you too, if you don’t mind firing some brain cells on something that might be totally new to you.

This passage (on page 87 of The Adventure of I: A Journey to the Centre of Your Reality by Tania Kotsos) talks about time as it relates to the Law of Cause and Effect:

Mental Time

“The immediate effects of your mental actions are the thought-waves they emit and the thought atmosphere you create around you. If you could see your mental world as you do your physical world, you would become just as careful and selective about your mental actions as you are about the physical actions you take. In the same way that you look twice when crossing a road, you would think twice before entertaining any thought…

“The Mental Plane is not constrained by time in the same way as the Physical Plane, but its physical effects are. This means there is a time lag between your mental causes and their physical world effects. This time lag dilutes the creative power of your thoughts, either because a thought was fleeting and hence did not have enough energy to be created, or it was ‘overwritten’ by a conflicting thought. Given the sheer number of negative thoughts people entertain, this time lag and thought power dilution is to our benefit. Having said this, it also explains why you must consistently focus on your goal without concern for your current conflicting circumstances.”

That line: ‘If you could see your mental world as you do your physical world, you would become just as careful and selective about your mental actions as you are about the physical actions you take’ reminds me of one of neuroscientist Dr. Caroline Leaf’s comments in her book, Switch On Your Brain: The Key to Peak Happiness, Thinking, and Health. She says: “If you realized how powerful your thoughts are, you would never think a negative thought.”

Another line that grabs me from Kotsos’ book is “…explains why you must consistently focus on your goal without concern for your current conflicting circumstances.”

“Current conflicting circumstances.” We all have them. What I hear fairly often from my clients as they begin their journey to developing this kind of personal power inside themselves is “I’m doing what you said. Why am I still having a problem?”

I believe they think they are doing what I said, but they stop short of holding that powerful thought like a laser in their mind? (It takes practice to develop any muscle or skill) Or are you holding thoughts of ‘this better work (doubt)’, ‘I wonder why this isn’t working (diluting negative thought) and/or ‘the problem is still here!' (focus is on ‘apparent’ conflicting circumstance.)

Never to focus on external conditions in part because temporal circumstances change; that’s their nature. Why give your energy to things that change by nature, especially if you don't want them? We view these circumstances through the lens of our perspective which comes from the programming of others initially, so our perspective is slanted.

The real power and influence over circumstances comes from inside us when we change our perspective. Dr. Wayne Dyer was spot on when he taught “Change the way you look at things and the things you look at change.”

Our creative thought power and ability to imagine holds our thought energy in position allowing us to feel the feeling of our desired end results.

We’ve all done this, although most people are more familiar with the term ‘worry’ which is exactly what I’m talking about in REVERSE. But when you worry, don’t you mull over all the potential negative things that could happen until you feel horrible? Then you worry some more and keep yourself bathing in the juices and chemical reactions of what your fear MIGHT happen.

Flip this process! Look at everything as if it’s going well for you! Rehearse and rehearse some more, believing that the entire universe is conspiring to bring you GOOD! Feel what you would feel if you were already in possession of what you want. Would you feel calm, secure and relaxed? Happy? Grateful? What would you be doing? See yourself doing that and practice those emotions. Make it real in your imagination by coloring in all the details you can. Give no thought to the negative energy which dilutes your power and delays or stops your good.

If you learn to do this, you are developing a key skill that will serve immensely. You’ll be able to use it to improve your relationships, your health, your finances, any circumstance that you face. Being aware of your thoughts and how to control them is as priceless as the independence our country gained a couple of hundred years ago because your thoughts either win you personal independence in your life over negative circumstances, or they keep you imprisoned, reacting the same way you always have and getting the same results you might expect.

Your choice!