Daily Positive Thought

Where there is great love, there are always miracles. – Willa Cather

There are so many different kinds of love.  There is the love between friends, the love between a parent and a child, the love between siblings, and romantic love just to name a few.  All these different types of love are GREAT, and all are very very different.  They all have something in common however – love always has the power to bring about miracles.

I know when I first read this quote and thought about it, I started thinking about my father who passed away many years ago.  I loved my dad – I still do – why didn’t that love bring about a miracle and keep him alive?  Well, I don’t necessarily think those are the types of miracles the quote is talking about.  Think about how you are when you are with someone you truly love, be it a parent, friend, child or soul mate.  How do you feel when you are with them?

I think when you truly love someone, you are filled with such joy, and happiness, and you send out a kind of glow.  You RESONATE with that love, and the joy and the happiness.  And because you are resonating with those wonderful emotions, you attract them back to you, and that’s when the miracles start to happen.  I’m not talking the walk on water type of miracles – though who knows, maybe it’s happening for you   but the miracles of a good day, a good mood, a happy feeling inside.  Things like that shouldn’t be overlooked for they are miracles in their own right – brought about by love.

Without freedom from the past, there is no freedom at all, because the mind is never new, fresh, innocent. – Krishnamurti

I don’t know about you, but I have, in my past, some things that I just can’t seem to let go of.  Things that made me angry, things that made me sad, and things that have caused me acute embarrassment.  I tend to hang on to things, which is pretty pointless.  So I have made a focused effort to start letting things go.  I don’t want to forget things – we should never forget the past, but I am no longer going to LIVE in the past.  When we are mired in the past, it’s impossible to move forward.  Hanging on to emotions like these don’t hurt anybody but ourselves, and honestly, I like myself too much to keep hurting myself that way.

So I am challenging you (and myself) to let go of those things that are holding us back.  Let go of anger, resentment, unhappiness and embarrassment.  Do whatever it takes to rid yourselves of these useless emotions.  Write them down and burn them, bury them, flush them, whatever it takes.  Don’t let what has happened in the past color your future.  Allow yourself the freedom you deserve to move forward into the future that can be yours.

You are the embodiment of the information you choose to accept and act upon. To change your circumstances you need to change your thinking and subsequent actions. – Adlin Sinclair

Can it really be this simple?  Seriously?  Change your thinking and you change your circumstances?  Yes, yes it is.  Look back through history – as far back as the Bible, you’ll find quotes all basically saying the same thing:  basically, you get back what you put out there.  I know it sounds so simple….so simple in fact, that it’s impossible to believe.  To my way of thinking, if so many people throughout history are saying it, there must be some truth in it.

It’s so easy, that it’s hard.  What makes it hard is that you HAVE to believe in it, and we, as human beings are a practical race.  Many of us find it hard to believe in something so intangible.   But believe is what you have to do.  You need to KNOW beyond a shadow of a doubt that you are capable of creating a better life for yourself.  Change your energy, focus on good and positive things, have happy thoughts, emit a vibration of positive energy and watch how you attract good and positive, happy things back to you.  Why not give it a try?  The way I look at it, you have everything to gain, and nothing to lose.

Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world. – Albert Einstein

Imagination is a wonderful thing – especially when coupled with knowledge.  Knowledge is a springboard for imagination.  It’s the starting point.   I know, you’re wondering how this applies to thinking positive.  Well it’s simple.  The knowledge is this – thinking positive is good.  That’s a given.  A positive attitude is so much better than a negative attitude.  Now, how do we use imagination to springboard off of knowledge?

The possibilities are ENDLESS.  There are so many things you can do to cultivate a positive attitude.  This is where you let your imagination take over.  Start by asking yourself how.  How can I be more positive?  What can I do?  Ideas will start trickling in, slowly at first, but then faster and faster.  You are limited only by your imagination – and that pretty much means you are UNlimited.  Go ahead, run with it open up your imagination to thinking positive and letting positive things into your life.

If you concentrate on finding whatever is good in every situation, you will discover that your life will suddenly be filled with gratitude, a feeling that nurtures the soul. – Rabbi Harold Kushner

I’m not going to lie….I’m not feeling one bit grateful right now.  In fact, I’m a huge seething ball of anger and resentment.  “Over what?” you may ask.  Well that’s what’s funny.  I’m reacting directly to the actions of another person, and I’m blogging about it because I think it’s important to know that even though I talk about being positive, talk about being grateful and talk about not letting your emotions be controlled by the actions of others – none of that means it comes any easier for me than it does for anybody else.

Nobody goes around in a perfectly happy, sunshiney mood 24 hours a day.  It’s virtually impossible.  I have some things going on today, right now, that have put me in a “mood to end all moods,” and it’s not a good mood.  Those things happen.  What happens next though…that’s what’s important.  I can choose to hold on to this horrible mood for the rest of the day.  I have that right.  These are my emotions and nobody an take that away from me.  But the question is, do I WANT to hang on to this mood?  No, I really, really don’t.  So I’m acknowledging the fact that I am in a mood, I’m looking at the underlying reasons, and now, I’m making a choice to focus on something else.

I think it’s important to acknowledge and accept the “blechiness” when it happens.  Just like I think it’s important not to focus on it.  So instead, I’m going to look for good things in my life, and find things for which I am grateful, and when it comes right down to it, I have a LOT of things to be grateful for.  I’m choosing to focus on them because the more gratitude I feel, the more it will positive happy feelings will come back to me. It may start out slow, like a small candle flame trying to illuminate a dark room, but eventually that light will take hold and fill my soul.

You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. – A. A. Milne (Winnie-The-Pooh)

I have a challenge for you.  It’s a challenge I want you to take very seriously.  Today at some point, I want you to sit down with a pencil (or pen or crayon for that matter) and a piece of paper and I want you to make a list.  Not a grocery list, or a chore list, or a Honey-Do list.  The list I want you to make is a list of all the things that make you AWESOME.
Did you make the list?  Great.  Now I want you to go to a mirror and take a good look at yourself.  What’s the first thing that pops into your head?  Probably something about how you need a haircut, or your nose is too big, or look at the wrinkles.  STOP IT!  Stop focusing on the things you perceive as faults.  Take that list you made and read it out loud to yourself.  Focus on all those good qualities.  See yourself for the wonderful and amazing person you are.  How does it make you feel?  Probably pretty good.  Now imagine how you would make somebody else feel if you did that for them.  If you focused on their strengths and good qualities.  How do you think that would make them feel?  How do you think that would make YOU feel.
Take some time today to recognize your amazing qualities and then take some time to spread the love to someone else!

Every time you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing. – Mother Teresa

There are tons of quotes and sayings about smiles – so it stands to reason that a smile must be pretty important.  When you share a smile with someone, you are giving them an incredible gift.  The gift of you.  Think for a moment about babies and little children.  Their smiles are unrestrained.  They burst forth and light up their faces and the hearts of people around them.  It’s the same for an adult….when you are so filled with joy and happiness that it spills out of you in the form of a smile, you light up the world around you.  When you share that smile with somebody else, you’re lighting up their world as well.

Another really cool thing about smiles is that they, like yawns, are contagious.  Try it and see.  For one day, smile.  Smile when you’re walking down the street, smile whenever someone approaches you, smile when ever you can.  Watch the reactions of the people around you.  Chances are, they’ll be smiling right back at you.  Share that wonderful gift of your smile with others and see how many wonderful smiling gifts you get back.

Life is 10 percent what happens to me and 90 percent how I react to it. – Charles Swindoll

We have no control over what other people say and do.  None at all.  That’s one of those hard core facts of life that will never change.  People have free will and can pretty much do whatever they want.  What we do have control over, is how we react to what other people say and do.  If someone is trash talking you and causing incredible drama in your life, that is out of your control.  How you react is totally within your control.  Do you trash talk back and cause your own drama?  Do you confront them and find out why, or do you take the high road and ignore their behavior?  Those are just some of the choices that are available to you.  That is what YOU get to decide.

Don’t get hung up on what other people are saying and doing, instead, focus on what you’re saying and doing.  Make good choices and good decisions, think positive thoughts and you’ll find that your world is a whole lot brighter.