So we have all those 50,000 thoughts running through our heads every day, and we know we want to at least make use of them! I mean, if they’re going to be there anyway (which they are), they may as well be helping to achieve our goals, rather than sabotaging them. Right?
So, merrily down the yellow bricks we skip, singing our positive affirmations as we go. What could possibly go wrong?
I don’t know what the heck it is—some sort of Universal quirk—but all you have to do is commit to something, and all hell rises up to meet you. And the demons from there are never positive. And the funny thing is, this has happened since the dawn of humankind.
We know this because from the most ancient myths, these plot points play out. Just about the time the hero finally commits to his quest (that would be you, on the positive path), he starts to encounter trials and tribulations.
In our present quest, those come right back at us with the negative side of things. No need to even give voice to all of those, as I’m sure they popped right into your mind. I’d as soon take a gun and shoot them, but that just causes them to disperse into about a thousand shards, all of which return as future demons.
So, how to stop negative thoughts?
A few steps help me:
- Acknowledge them. Whenever I try and just push them aside, or deny them, I swear they get stronger. These little asses need a voice. They’re the conflicts within me anyway (the good and evil of myths), so I may as well let them come out.
- See if they have any merit. Now, this isn’t a two-month therapy question, but rather a two-minute internal discussion. For example: You’ve decided to proclaim yourself a genius (a great thing to do! As Yogi Berra said, “We’re all born geniuses; life just de-geniuses us”). And that little voice comes right up and says, “You don’t know squat.” If it says exactly that, we’ll deal with it in the next step. But if it says, “You mighta been had you studied X,” which revolves around whatever it is you’re trying to achieve. If that’s the case and you see the merit, go sign up for X!
- Confront them. Once I’ve ascertained that this is a little demon thought, rather than an angel trying to further my progress, I look that voice in the eye (I do live in an imaginal world!) and say, “I hear you. And you might be right. We’ll discuss it later, as right now I have a scene to write . . . “ Not often do I hear from that same ratty demon again. His brother, maybe . . .
- Turn straight back onto that yellow-brick road of positive thinking. Get right back on that horse that bucked you off. Or any other platitude you want to insert here 🙂 I. e., whatever works for you. But just go back to the goal, eye on the prize.
And yep, as with anything learned, at first you have to employ tons of determination and persistence. I mean, how many decades do you have of negative thinking? Those old tapes don’t just turn off with one day of focusing on the positive. Well, okay, for some folks they do—I’ve actually seen that happen. But that’s not my way (maybe I need to change that thought? LOL).
Yep, you’re gonna slip. God knows I do. But self-flagellation just sets me back.
I love this quote by financial-guru Robert Kiyosaki, “The size of your success is measured by the strength of your desire; the size of your dream; and how you handle disappointment along the way.”
So, how do you handle those pesky negative devils?
