The power of our thoughts during the COVID-19 crisis.
The world has changed so much since we we last talked.
Raise your hand if emotions are high right now? COVID-19 has wreaked havoc on the planet and in the lives of billions of people. At some point, we will have figured out how to beat the virus because that’s what we do as human beings. But long after the virus is contained, there is still a bigger, more dangerous disease that is likely to continue to infect millions of people on this planet—hopelessness. Despair is expected to end the lives of more people than the coronavirus.
How do we inoculate ourselves from hopelessness? In the Bhagavad Gita, it is said, “For those who have conquered the mind, it is their friend. For those who have failed to do so, the mind works like an enemy.” Gaining control of the mind is key if we wish to ever make that transition from surviving our lives to thriving within our lives. As a matter of fact, gaining control of our mind not only protects us from hopelessness, it also manages fear, reduces anxiety, heals relationships, enhances creativity and can completely change our lives.
There are many techniques we can use to learn to regulate our mind. It’s most important, however, to know that it is the job of our conscious mind to filter thought. Imagine if we figuratively had a thought bubble engulfing us like a cloud of ideas at all times. It would be the job of our conscious mind to sift through those thoughts floating in and out of that cloud and decide which ones to accept and which ones to reject. The thoughts we accept are the ones we submit to the subconscious, whose job is to make everything we give to it reality. Our thoughts, the chosen or accepted thoughts, literally paint the picture of our reality. The power is in the choosing. We can paint a new image on the canvas of our lives simply by choosing a different set of thoughts. Thoughts color our reality.
The global quarantine has provided us with the gift of time and space that we likely did not have prior to this experience. In this space and time, we can take a few steps back to look at our life’s work. There is no better time than now to take inventory of the images we have painted that bring us joy, reevaluate the brush strokes that detract from the beauty, value and purpose of our painting and then intentionally set brush to canvas as we begin to paint new images with carefully chosen colors that depict a vibrant, thriving and hopeful self-portrait.
This month we’re looking at a word that no one really likes. Failure.
“Failure brings a climax in which one has the privilege of clearing his mind of fear and making a new start in another direction.”
Napoleon Hill
It is high time we reassign the word failure with a new definition.
When you think of failure today, what do you feel?
When it is your failure does it feel differently than if it is another’s failure?
Most of us would agree that the opposite of failure is success. So when we experience failure, we get this sense of having moved in the opposite direction of success. Napoleon Hill (Author of Think and Grow Rich and Outwitting the Devil) would disagree. He spent a great many years of his life, in the early 1900s, studying the philosophies of successful people. He has concluded that if one were to “study the lives of all people who achieve outstanding success in any calling and observe, with profit, that [they would find] their success is usually in exact ratio to their experiences of defeat before succeeding.”
Stretch your imagination to consider failure as a tool rather than a defeat. Failure is the sharpening stone by which we become sharp, focused and poised in the direction of our aspirations. Failure communicates to us when it is time to adjust our plans. Failure reveals to us the necessity of abandoning thoughts or habits that are no longer serving our quest for success. Failure provides us with the opportunity to face and overcome fear, to strengthen our resolve and to fine tune our minds.
Next time you find yourself staring failure in the face, say “thank you.” “Thank you, failure, for helping me find my way toward my dreams.” “Thank you for redirecting me away from the path that does not serve my purpose and toward the path that does.” “Thank you for revealing to me the seed of an advantage that I may use to strengthen my cause.” “Thank you for providing me with the clarity of what will and will not work.”
So, how do you feel about failure now?
Every month, I send out an uplifting thought, like this one, along with other resources and opportunities for growth. If you’d like to receive this email newsletter, sign up here.
Peace does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble, or hard work. It means to be in the midst of those things and still be calm in your heart.
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Here are 10 steps toward living more peacefully this year.
The quickest way to a life filled with peace is to eliminate expectations on self and others.
It is not anyone else’s responsibility to make you ‘feel’ anything. That is our job alone.
The more I practice self-love (aka self-acceptance) the greater degree of peace in my life.
Mastering the art of observation will bring more peace.
Knowledge is the salve that can heal old wounds. Learn about mental mechanics–how the conscious and subconscious mind works.
Become more responsive and less reactive. Create space between stimulus and response.
Live transparently. Be honest.
Stop forcing things into place. Learn difference between inspired action and forced action.
Seek alignment in all things. Feel for what resonates authentically with you.
Begin looking for your happiness within yourself. It is a state of mind. Also, happiness emerges from the deep connections we make with ourselves and one another.
You can change your world simply by changing the way you feel inside. It’s an inside job! Here are some steps on exactly how to begin consciously creating the life you prefer:
Imagine and envision a clear picture of what it is that you desire.
Match the vibration of that desire by experiencing the emotions you would be feeling if you were to already exist in that reality.
Act. Behave as if you know what you’ve imagined to already be true. Project the confidence, wear the clothes and walk the walk.
Persevere. There will be a period of time where what you imagine on the inside may not match what you see on the outside. However, if you persevere in spite of the contradiction, you will find in due time, the external world beginning to match your internal vision.
Want to take charge of the new year? You can change your world simply by changing the way you feel inside. It’s an inside job! Here are some steps on exactly how to begin consciously creating the 2017 you prefer:
Imagine and envision a clear picture of what it is that you desire.
Match the vibration of that desire by experiencing the emotions you would be feeling if you were to already exist in that reality.
Act. Behave as if you know what you’ve imagined to already be true. Project the confidence, wear the clothes and walk the walk.
Persevere. There will be a period of time where what you imagine on the inside may not match what you see on the outside. However, if you persevere in spite of the contradiction, you will find in due time, the external world beginning to match your internal vision.
