Good Thoughts About Life – Not That Easy to Do

We are told that it is best to have good thoughts, to look on the bright side of things and that every cloud has a silver lining. We are told that this is a way to keep stress down which will keep us healthy. We are told that having good thoughts about life will keep us happy and help us be a better family member, friend and neighbor.

We hear this advice from self proclaimed “gurus”, we hear it from spiritual leaders of all denominations and we read it in almost every self help book on the market.

So, even though we hear this advice all of the time, why is it so hard to do? Why is it that most people are plagued with constant negative thoughts? Why can’t you be happy all the time and why can’t you “whistle while you work”? Why do you get frustrated in long traffic jams or get angry at your neighbor for letting their dog bark? Why do you hate your boss for being such a jerk and why do you get angry at your spouse or kids. Why do these things happen to you when you have been told this is not the best way to behave for your health physically, emotionally and spiritually?

These things happen to you because it is very hard to remove negativity from your mind when you are constantly bombarded with negativity in your life. Wherever you turn you run into negativity.  We are programmed with negativity, with violence and with hatred. I know that this sounds pretty awful but it is true.

Let’s look at a number of the ways this is true. The first place to look is at the ever present TV. The average family watches over 5 hours of TV per day. And what do we see the most of?  Let’s start with the news. We all want to keep up with current events so we end up hearing reports of war, domestic violence and natural disasters.  Do you like detective shows?  They have constant violence and murder. Have you noticed how much violence is in cartoons?  And sports are not much better. Football, which is so hard hitting, now has to have more rules that help keep players out of the hospital.

I could go on and on about the ways that we are programmed to think in angry, violent and hateful ways. In fact we are presented with visions of violence far more often than we are presented with visions of kindness and happiness.

Here are some statistics from Columbia State University that will give you a glimpse at the level of violence and hate that we are exposed to.

Number of murders seen on TV by the time an average child finishes elementary school: 8,000

Number of violent acts seen on TV by age 18: 200,000

Percentage of Americans who believe TV violence helps precipitate real life mayhem: 79%

I woke up to understanding the importance of the type of input that entered my brain. I realized that our brains are like a computer – trash in, trash out, quality in, quality out. Let’s look at some ways to remedy the situation. In the outline below I will only touch on a few methods to make changes and expand on these ideas in future articles and workshops.

A first step would have to be to limit the input of negativity. If you decide that TV is an enjoyable pastime then you will need to assess the type of shows that you watch. Evaluate the nature of the show. Do you generally get upset with something that takes place within the regular programming of the show? Take a close look at what types of messages are being presented.

The second step is to monitor other sources of input in your life – movies, books, magazines, newspapers and music. I was surprised when I started to really listen to the lyrics of the music that I regularly listened to. Remember to look at the ratio of negativity to positivity. This exercise alone will make a big difference in your thinking.

The next step would be to look at your thoughts. How do you think about things? What is the nature of your thoughts? Do your thoughts have a theme? Do you habitually respond to events in a certain way? Are you happy with the way that you respond? By looking at your thoughts you have the ability to change your thought processes. This is not an easy task but can be aided by meditations and coaching.

Any habit, including habitual thinking, is hard to break. Seeking the help of others on a similar pursuit makes the job a lot easier. Depending on where you live will make the search for this type of help either easy or hard. If you live in a larger city then there are always groups around that can fulfill your needs. However, if you live in a small town then there is a good chance that you will have to look for groups on the internet or travel out of you area.

Once you start taking steps to change your thinking, to generate good and happy thoughts about life, you may find that you run into many stumbling blocks. If this is the case you may need the assistance of a trained energy healer. Healers have the ability to look at how your energy interacts with your surroundings and how your energy may be tied to these non productive thought patterns.

As you have seen, there are many factors that condition us to have negative thoughts. I hope that this article was helpful in understanding how we get stuck in negative thinking and some methods that will help you to have good thoughts about life.

If you have any questions please leave a comment below or contact me and we can talk.