I know there are a lot of people who would love to push back
at me for making such a statement, but it’s the conclusion I (as well as many
others) have drawn. See it goes a little something like this, if you believe
that your thoughts create your reality, which there are numerous spiritual
groups as well as scientists who have discussed this concept at great length,
that would mean that EVERYTHING we have ever experienced is a result of our
consistent pattern of thinking. So, if that’s the case, then our own happiness
is our own hands.
Most would say, “Well I am not choosing to be unhappy, I
just am.” And they would also insist that “if” they had the ability to make the
conscious choice, they would chose happiness. Well, isn’t that something?
Allowing ourselves to fall back into our usual, comfortable, patterns of
thinking, is still a choice, now isn’t it? When we insist on seeing life only
as it is now, instead of making the attempt to see things as we would like them
to be, we are making a choice, whether we want to admit it or not. Consistently
falling back on the same kneejerk reactions, to the same types of experiences,
is only going to produce the same kind of results. You can’t, in one breath,
say you want to be happy, then, in the next breath, continue with the exact
same type of unhappy thoughts and behaviors that have been perpetuating the unhappiness
you want to avoid. This is like consistently banging your head against a brick
wall, while wishing your head would stop hurting, then getting angry at the
brick wall for the headache.
The longer we choose to focus on what makes us unhappy, we
will only bring on more unhappiness, because that is where our attention lies.
But if, in the moment of conflict, we CHOOSE to even attempt to look for
something about the situation to feel better about, therein lies the change we
desire. It will become more common for us to work to feel better, than to work
to feel sad. They are both work, it’s just that we’ve done one for so long,
it’s become second nature (or just nature). We have the power to turn that
around if we so choose and allow the more natural choice to become the
predominantly positive one.
Love,
