One important sentence....

That's a lovely story, Sarah, and beautifully expressed.

About negative thoughts...

If our minds were constantly filled with happy, positive thoughts, it wouldn't surprise us if events in our lives reflected those thoughts and our personal worlds were full of sunshine. Unsurprisingly, day to day events usually present a different picture.

We would like to adopt more positive attitudes, the question for most is HOW and WHAT?

When our present conditions subject us to a wide range of difficult, awful, and even horrendous experiences, how do we "smile in the face of adversity"? HOW do we fill our minds with those thoughts that would make us feel better and improve our lot in life?

And WHAT do we do about those negative, painful thoughts? And WHAT positive thoughts do we search for? Do we hope they will randomly and fortuitously appear?

Those thoughts that occupy our attention very often stem from our perception of the world around us. We are aware of our shortage of funds and the numerous bills to pay and focus on that problem. Our bodies respond to the threat with stress, anxiety, sleeplessness, short temper, etc. When we read the newspapers, we're alerted to widespread corruption, negligence, violence, exploitation, and disasters. People we meet in our everyday lives may be hostile, abusive, even violent towards us. When we perceive the world as a threatening place - and see constant evidence of this - our bodies naturally respond with alarm and prepare to defend us.

However, beneath the stress and anxiety, if we pause we can sense other things. Our inner self remains unperturbed by disturbances in the outside world. Still untouched by it all is a deeper sense of peace, calm, appreciation, gratitude, happiness, wellbeing - even joy and the power to be more - that persists notwithstanding external events.

From time to time we can sense these inner feelings and are reminded of better times and more hopeful possibilities and inner power, though consciously our thoughts are fixated on problems and our bodies are stressed.

However, in idle moments when we daydream and when we sleep, our preoccupation with all those things going wrong in our lives slips away and those deeper feelings are sensed and thoughts inspired by them are playfully imagined. For a brief time we feel hope and empowered. Though feeling lost, we haven't been deserted or abandoned - never have, never will be. Our inner senses are still there to remind us of who we really are and to guide us to happier times.

When we knowingly trust and experience our own inner selves, we are never alone or without hope; we have a guide who is always with us.

However, when our thoughts are distracted by everyday disasters, we lose touch with these deeper senses and feel overwhelmed and powerless as we are constantly faced with situations we do NOT want and our bodies respond to these perceptions.

An ability that humans have which receives very little exercise is the ability to CHOOSE what we pay attention to. Normally we simply pay attention to whatever thoughts present themselves. The powerful presence of the external world means that we pay constant attention to what we are already getting. If our everyday experiences indicate we are ugly, unworthy or a failure, that is what we will pay attention to and those thoughts will generate feelings of inadequacy, unworthiness and despair. And, guess what? Tomorrow we can expect more of the same!

But, notwithstanding present reality, we can shift our attention to other, more attractive possibilities. For instance, when we imagine ourselves coping successfully with situations, our body does not feel alarmed. It feels invigorated and empowered. Our inner systems respond by stimulating ideas and making us more alert to opportunities. Thoughts of success don't evoke fear but confidence and enthusiasm.

By shifting our attention away from unpleasant realities and constantly reminding ourselves of the greater potential within us and within others - by aligning our thoughts with who we really are - we consciously create a more desirable world that we experience.

Ivan

The human mind can withstand the tragedies and overcome adversity. Its what we bring upon ourselves that is the real worry.

Thank you Sarah for sharing you experience with us in this post of yours. Positive thoughts, good reaction to negative circumstances, and bright hope that the future will favor us are the powerful tools that can keep us alive and in good shape.

Hi Sarah,

Nice story. Yes, I agree with you that we tend to think negatively all the time. I was also brought up in the family that over protective. My mother will always say don't do this and that because scared of this and that. Being an old generation, she doesn't know what is negative thinking. The only thing she know is she not allow her kids to do certain cause she scared that they will get hurt. She just know that she need to protect her kids. So I don't really blame her for that.

My husband had teached me to be bold and stay positive. Sometimes we will argue just because he will ask me to do thing that I am not use to do. For example, 1 time he had asked me to drive in city which I never did before. Usually I just drive in small town. We really quarrell and I was angry to him. But he was very firmed and don't bother with my anger. I was forced to drive. And I can make it. Since then I can drive and I feel that I have more confident in my self.

Now I believe we can do everything as long as we tell ourselves that we can do it. If before doing anything, we already say we can't so most likely we can't.

Hi Sarah,

A person naturally thinks negatively and that is why it is so important to read motivational books on a daily basis.

Negative thoughts are in our minds like a cutton swab glued to our brains. We want to take it out but it takes a little time and it may leave some of that swab left behind that we can not see.



Tal

Great Story, its nice to see a good story touching story once in a while with the majority of the bad news we get bombarded with from day to day.

I've found that being patient in life, not jumping to conclusions, etc tends to better your overall situation and create a more positive atmosphere.

I personally try to go out of my way everyday and at least help one person, someone I do not know preferably. The feeling you get is amazing, not only that, but the universe will return the favor my friends, so it is definitely worth it.

Controlling your thoughts is one of the most challenging things to accomplish...plenty of monks are busy on this task right now!

I believe the reason this works is because it's like turning on a light in a formerly dark room: they can't co-exist. Where does the dark go? Away. And when the light is out, *pop* back comes the darkness.

Perhaps the instruction would work better, though, rephrased this way:

"Fill your mind with positive thoughts, and negative ones will not have a way in."

What do you think?