“Once you replace negative thoughts with positive ones, you’ll start having positive results.” – Willie Nelson
As I prepared for a meeting this week, I noticed that I was feeling tense and worrie. It did not make sense to me, because I was well prepared and the meeting would not take very long. What I noticed was that there was a part of me that felt like everything was going wrong and was assuming that this meeting would do the same. After taking a few moments to reaffirm how well my life has been going, I felt immense relief. The meeting turned out to be one of the shortest, and least stressful, I have ever experienced.
It is important to pay attention to the direction of our thoughts. The way we feel is the quickest way to determine which way our thoughts are flowing. When we are feeling good, we will notice that our thoughts are flowing in a positive and constructive direction. Tuning in to the direction that our thoughts are headed is a great way to tend to matters internally, before they become externalized as the conditions of our lives.
When things feel stressful, in any area of our lives, it is easy to fall into the belief that everything is moving in the wrong direction. When this belief is active, our energy gets unnecessarily drained. Our mind becomes so preoccupied with fighting an uphill battle that it misses all of the help and positive indicators that surround us.
This is very evident with children. Last week I had a lunch group that started off with a bang. The children came in yelling at one another. It would have been easy for me to get caught up in their frenetic energy and start yelling back.
Thankfully, I had eaten beforehand and had my wits about me. Instead of fighting the energy that was in front of me, I came from a calm place. I spoke to them in the way I wanted them to speak to me and each other. I directed them lovingly to engage in the game that I had selected for the group.
It worked so well that even I was surprised. My calm provided an emotional direction for the children who were spinning wildly, and negatively out of control. This ability to direct the flow of our environments is something that we often underestimate. Yet, we all have it within us to do so.
This is why we enjoy a good concert, where a singer or performer directs our attention in a powerful way. It feels good to engage life fully and move in a direction that inspires us to feel deeply and see the best that life has to offer.
If there is an area of your life that feels derailed, take heart. Set aside some time to make a list of the ways that your life is moving in the right direction.
Speak aloud, or in quiet, the direction you desire your life to go. Then relax and stay open to the evidence that things are moving in the right direction. The lift you will receive is worth the effort.
Edward Biagiotti is the Inclusion Specialist for Culver City Unified School District. He is also co-host of the popular radio show, Funniest Thing! with Darrell and Ed, to find out more go to www.DarrellandEd.com.