The Power Of Thought

The power of thought is literally what makes our world.

Have you ever had one of those days that you woke up feeling horrible?  Where the first thoughts that crossed your mind were how tired you were, how it’s friggin’ monday again, or man, I have to go to work again?  How did that day end up turning out?

Let me guess…you didn’t know about the power of thought and the effect it could have on your day, so what happened?  You slept in an extra half hour.  You woke the kids up late to get ready for school.  Because they were rushed, they got cranky.  Tensions rose, and constant arguing ensued.  Now you’re stressed and irritated with the kids, AND have to explain to them why you only have time to make them toast or cereal.  And of course, they are upset and don’t feel much like eating now, so they take their time and mumble while they’re eating.  Oops….they took so long they’ve missed the bus.  Oh, great!  Now I have to take them to school!  So you hop in the car, with only half a cup of coffee in you and dishes all over the table (great, I’ve gotta do dishes before I can cook tonight).  You fight with the traffic trying to get them dropped off at school, and (small relief), you are going to call your job to let them know you’re 45 minutes late….when you reach into your briefcase, backpack, or purse and realize…it’s still on the charger at home.  So you rush home, grabbing another sip of cold coffee as you dart past the table with your phone on your way back out the door to work.  While you’re on your way there, you call your job and let them know you’re going to be an hour and 15 minutes late, because you’ll be there in ten.  Well there goes another hour off your paycheck!  Now you’ll have to stress about money even more!  Most likely, your boss and coworkers are going to give you hell for at least half the day while you struggle to catch up on the day’s work.  Then when lunchtime comes, you decide to grab a snack from the vending machine and keep working while you eat.  When the time finally comes to go home, even though you’ve still got an extra half hour’s worth of work that you’ll have to catch up on tomorrow now, you sneak out to your car, in a hurry to get home because you know you have to do dishes before you can cook.  On the way home, you stop at the store to pick up an ingredient or two you need.  Of course, the lines are long, so you wait impatiently, glancing at your phone every few seconds and sighing irritatedly while the friendly cashier politely engages her customers in light conversation.  Finally, it’s your turn, and as she smiles a winning smile at you asks, “How are you today?”  Gritting your teeth, not wanting to have to explain, you grumble “Fine.”, while you mentally tear her limb from limb with your smoldering eyes.  When she hands you your receipt and tells you to “Have a wonderful day!”, you snatch the cursed slip of paper from her hand and turn around and storm out before you lose control.

Honestly, I could go on and on about how the power of thought affected the rest of your day…but I think you get the picture, and can identify with the story so far.

Now, what if you realigned that power of thought into something positive instead of negative?

Now what do you think might happen if the first few instants of that day had gone differently?  What if you had used the power of thought to decide first the thoughts that you would allow about how you got to wake up to see another beautiful day?  It’s Monday again, a whole new week with which to accomplish something great!  You can’t wait to wake up your kids with a hug and a kiss and have a fun breakfast with them!

This is where the power of thought comes into play.

THIS time, you’ve harnessed the power of thought and DECIDED how your day is going to go.  So you wake up the kids and send them off to the shower while you make breakfast and coffee.  When the kids are ready, they sit down at the table, probably telling you what they’re going to do that day.  You enjoy a peaceful conversation with your kids while you all get a healthy start.  They might even have enough time for a couple rounds of their favorite video game before it’s time to go.  So they leave for the bus with a hug and a kiss, and you hop in the shower, enjoying the hot water, then get dressed, gather your things, and head out a few minutes early to get your desk organized.  Unencumbered by a side trip to the school, you make it to work 10 or 15 minutes early, and didn’t even have to ask for forgiveness for flipping off the lady who was busier paying attention to her visor mirror while putting on her makeup than staying between those little dotted lines on the road.  You greet your boss and coworkers as they come in, already a bit ahead of the game with your work, and looking for new ways to make it easier and more efficient.  When lunch time comes, you head to the local deli with a coworker or two for a soup and salad or a tasty sandwich, catching up on the latest with your work friends, then head back to finish out the well-planned day.  You get to leave at five o’clock sharp, and stop by the store on the way home to grab your couple ingredients, and strike up a conversation with another mom or dad while you’re waiting in line, then have a pleasant, smiling conversation with the girl at the checkout.  When she says, “Have a wonderful day!”, you respond with, “Thanks, you too!”

Using that power of thought creates a much different story of your day.

The power of thought has a cascade effect.

Every time you have a thought, be it positive or negative, you need to know that it plants a seed.  Just like any seed, that seed is going to grow, and for a VERY long time.  But what is even MORE important to know is that YOU HAVE THE ABILITY TO CONTROL YOUR THOUGHTS!!  The power of thought belongs to you!!

“Yeah, right, I can control my thoughts.”

The fact of the matter is that our brains are far superior to supercomputers.  Not only because their speed is hundreds of times faster than anything our technology has been able to produce, but because the hardware itself is always adapting itself.  It’s not like a regular computer in need of upgrades, updates and rebooting.  Our brain literally is constantly rewiring it’s circuits to adapt as we learn, to give us the power of thought.  Now keep in mind that the “power of thought” I’m talking about here isn’t the ability to think.  The “Power of thought” that I’m referring to is the fact that you have control.  It’s a proven fact that the neurons in our brains can also form long-term relationships with each other, making specific types of thoughts more prevalent, because they’re easier to process.  But it’s also a proven fact that by interrupting our ‘habitual’ thought processes on a regular basis, those neural connections begin breaking and seeking new connections that are more relevant to the thoughts that we are deciding to have.  This ends up making it easier, little by little, to have the thoughts that you choose to have.  Yes, our computer is the brain, but YOU are the user!  You can literally reprogram your brain, and teach it to do new things!

Is there a direct connection between thought and events?

Most definitely!  I used the stories of the daily routine above simply as an example, to show you a picture.  Can you see how the thoughts you had when you woke up affected thoughts, attitudes, emotions, and events throughout the day?  Can you see the cascade effect that it had?  The power of thought is an incredible thing that we all have inside of us.  But what about USING that power of thought?

Think of your conscious mind as a chalkboard.  Keep a constant, watchful eye on that chalkboard, and always watch what ends up written on that chalkboard.  Now think of the power of thought as being the eraser in your hand.  When you see something negative, something destructive, use that eraser, that power of thought, to literally remove that sentence from existence.  Then, pick up that chalk and write a new one in it’s place.  THIS is the power of thought!  It is the KNOWLEDGE of YOUR ABILITY to CHANGE what you THINK on a DAILY basis!

What effect do you think that might have on your home?  Your family?  Your relationships?  Your career?

You decide.  After all, the power of thought is up to you.  And what kind of effects do you think that the power of thought might have on your marketing, or anything you do?

To Your Success,
Sandra