Game Changer

“Think thoughts that feel good. Make choices that feel good.”
-Cheryl Richardson, You Can Create an Exceptional Life

Have you heard the saying, ‘Life is a game, all you have to do is know how to play it?’  If that’s true, why is it that so many of us are playing a game we don’t enjoy? And once we recognize we’re playing a game we don’t enjoy; how do we change it?

Positive thinking is a game changer.

It’s so simple. Then why is it so powerful? Why is it that each time I take it to heart, make the commitment to myself, follow through and surprise, surprise - feel good - it feels like a lightbulb moment?

Last week, I spent quite a bit of time on the couch, feeling under the weather. (A great expression, and kind of funny when you think that I just wrote a post about standing under the rain of fear - Take Refuge. Energy does follow attention. Maybe I need to be a little pickier about my metaphors. 😉)

Anyway, I started down the, ‘woe is me, I don’t feel good,’ path and caught myself. As Universal support would have it, I had just purchased You Can Create an Exceptional Life, co-authored by Cheryl Richardson and Louise Hay, from which the above quote is taken. The book has one, main message (reference above quote) with lots of practical suggestions and techniques to apply it in your life.

I decided to inspire myself even if I didn’t feel good. I then applied several of the techniques I resonated with from the book, and lo and behold I started to feel better. At first, I felt better emotionally, and then I started to feel better physically. My energy  returned, my headache wafted away. Many of the techniques in the book I was already familiar with. Why hadn’t I been utilizing them all along? Somehow, I forgot, so it’s supportive to hear the teachings again and again.

Why do we forget to use the techniques that work?

It is for that very reason, they work, that we so conveniently forget about them. We may not be quite ready to implement the change in our lives that would create. Perhaps we feel we don’t deserve to feel good. Perhaps we don’t feel safe feeling good, always wondering when the next shoe will drop. Perhaps we believe we’ve got to always be on the look-out for what can go wrong. Perhaps we just want the adrenaline rush of the drama that happens when things go wrong.

Whatever the reason, we forget to use the techniques that teach us the habit of feeling good, about ourselves, our lives, and our world. That way we can keep going along the way we were. We can stay safe with what’s familiar. Better the devil you know than the angel you don’t?

But if like me, you’ve had it up to here (picture me reaching as high as I can) with feeling bad about yourself, or about your life, or about how things are going in your world, then it’s time to implement a game changer.

Positive self-talk is thinking thoughts that feel good.

To use my experience from above, my first thoughts were negative self-talk. “I don’t feel good. Oh no, I’m getting sick. I won’t be able to get together with the kids on Sunday. I won’t get done what I need to do for Christmas!” I lay down on the couch and felt miserable.

Then I made the conscious decision to positize (yes, that’s a verb in my world). I knew my negative thought trend would only make me feel worse, so I looked in the mirror and said, “I love you. I really love you.” Bleary eyes blinked back at me, but the thought was appreciated. I then thought, “I’m getting better and better every day. Things are always working out for me.” I continued thoughts along those same lines, putting an intentionally positive spin on whatever it was that I was thinking about that day. At odd moments throughout the day I consciously thought to myself, “Today is a great day.”

The emotion that you feel is the gas for your creative engine.

I allowed myself to feel the positive emotion behind each thought. That is key.

Think about when you are thinking negative thoughts. There is always negative emotion associated with those thoughts, and the negative emotion attracts more negative thoughts into a spinning cycle of negativity.

Fortunately, the same works for positive thoughts and positive emotions. They attract more of the same and soon you are riding the positive feeling band wagon.

If you know you’re going to feel better when you think positive thoughts, why not positize your thinking?

It is particularly useful to positize your thoughts at this time of year.

During the holidays there are so many expectations of happiness, so much frantic activity, so many idealized images of the perfect holiday, it can all be too much.

What if instead of holding yourself to unrealistic ideas of perfect holidays, you thought thing like,

 “I’m so grateful for the love shared with each of my family and friends.”

“I’m so grateful that my holidays are filled with the magic of the season.”

Placing your attention upon the love and magic that the season represents rather than the physical trappings or the expectations that you perceive from yourself or others.

Find a way to positize each thought you think, whatever it is that you are thinking about. You will be glad you did, because thought by thought you’ll be feeling better and better.

“I’m feeling better and better. I’m feeling better and better…” and you know what? I really am. Game changed.

andi-rieger-576036-unsplash

Your Spiritual Toolbox

Play the What if? Game.

We do this all the time when we are worrying about something. We think, “What if this happens? How will that feel? What will I do?” That’s what worrying is all about, coming up with various different awful scenarios and worrying about what to do about each one. It’s not that you actually believe all those awful things will happen, you just think that’s the way to be prepared for what might happen.

Instead, choose to play in a positive way, a way that supports positive self-talk and feeling good.

Think about a positive scenario that you would like to have happen in your life. Then allow yourself to muse over all the different ways that could play out in your life. You don’t have to believe it will actually happen. Just pick something that feels good to think about.

For example, ask yourself, “What if I felt energized and enthusiastic about my life every day? What would that feel like? What would that look like day to day?”

Allow yourself to really feel what it feels like. Do you feel good? Then you are on the right track.

One positive side effect to playing this game is that if you have any self-limiting beliefs about happiness they may pop up as you play this game.

If part of you believes you don’t deserve to be happy, you may hear about it. Those, “Yes, but…” thoughts will pipe up.

“Yes, but you don’t know what’s around the next corner.” "Yes, but Mom always said, don’t…” “Yes, but I always got smacked down when I let myself be too happy.”

Fortunately, negative thinking and “Yes, buts…” are just old habits. You can retrain yourself into new, positive habits.

Playing the “What if? Game is a great way to start.