THE POWER OF THOUGHTS, WORDS, THE SUBCONSCIOUS AND IMAGINATION #1

 

THOUGHTS

The mind controls the heart. 

The mind must mind what the mind minds best. 

Use the mind, do not let the mind use you.

It is always best that we think from Spacious (Big) mind or our higher consciousness rather than from Narrow (Monkey) Mind, unless we are in survival mode.

“I think therefore I am.” Descartes

 

The only way to control Monkey Mind is with some form of meditation. One cannot "think" one's way out of it. Narrow Mind resides in our primitive brains, Spacious Mind in out Prefrontal lobes. Advanced practitioners default to the Prefrontal lobe on F.M.R.I. studies - most of us, however, to our primitive brains - especially under stress.

The thoughts we think are what dominate our life.
We must conjure with care, both the care as in carefully and care as in caringly…

 

“The happiness of your life depends on the quality of your thoughts.” 

Marcus Antonius

 “The soul becomes dyed with the color of its thoughts.”

Marcus Aurelius 

“Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right.” Henry Ford

 

Monkey mind usually dominates unless we do spiritual practice. It can also generate our unskillful, primitive emotions and thoughts (anger, hate, malice, our desires, compulsions, habits and addictions.) We need to wish others well and good things will return to us. (The Law of Attraction.)

Our thoughts create our words and our intentions as well as program our subconscious for positive or negative outcomes. We usually act out what resides in our subconscious minds, rather than what we intend with our conscious minds.

 

“The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it but that it is too low and we reach it.” Michelangelo

Beware of the subversiveness of doubt and the reticence of rhetoric.

 

Optimists have different words they use, that reflect what they think and feel, as do pessimists. The pessimists are more likely to be correct because of their cynicism but the optimists get more done. The pessimist may also be creating his/her reality by negating the Law of Attraction. 

Seligman the father of Positive Psychology found that optimistic people were happier, healthier, more productive and enjoyed life more than those that were pessimistic. Pessimistic folks were also more likely to be depressed and anxious. He also showed that optimism could be taught with various exercises.

“The optimist, by his superior wisdom and insight, is making his own heaven and in the degree he makes his own heaven, is he helping to make one for all the world beside. The pessimist, by virtue of his limitations, is making his own hell and in the degree that he makes his own hell, is he helping to make one for all mankind.” Ralph Waldo Trine 

“The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees opportunity in every difficulty.”  Winston Churchill

  

However, the shadow side of the optimist is having totally unrealistic expectations about one’s abilities. 

Praise that is designed to help create a positive, optimistic attitude when not associated with worth can lead to a tricky downhill path.

The self-esteem movement started in California in the 60's was a failure. Rather than improving performance in children it enabled them and encouraged narcissism. Many performed worse, rather than better and there was a subsequent increased rate of negative emotions, depression and even suicide. 

Self-compassion should not mean self-enabling or being enabled by parents or others. Self-worth is not the same as self-esteem which relates to the ego, persona and “self-cherishing” and tends towards self-enabling and even narcissism. An unconditional positive regard for our true Self reduces anxiety and depression and increases happiness, optimism, positive emotions, and self-worth. We are all worthy being made in the image of the Creator. 

“Tis nothing good or bad but thinking makes it so.” Shakespeare

Invincible means one cannot be beaten, and invulnerable, that one cannot be harmed. The optimist may know that s/he is not invincible but they do not submit to defeat when the going gets tough. They pick themselves up and try again. The pessimists believe they are anything but invincible and sometimes use their vulnerability as an excuse to bow out so they do not have to fail. 

Outward Bound used outdoor challenges and categorized their student into two groups i.e. those that were performance oriented versus those who were learning oriented. The performance-oriented participants liked to engage in the activities where they could do well and look good and avoided those where they were less adept and more likely to fail. The learning-oriented students did not care if they failed – they tried and tried again until they succeeded. At the end of the Outward Bound adventure the learning oriented had accomplished more.

“… I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” Michael Jordan