Long ago I began paying strict attention to the way I was feeling. I would note how I felt around others, animals, oceans, and even how I felt while watching the news or reading the newspaper. What I discovered was that within me was this amazing guidance system that for far too long I sadly was not listening to.
I noted that my feelings would change whenever I was around certain people. Some people made me feel content, peaceful, joyful and even inspired, while others made me feel frustrated, annoyed, angry, insecure, and even depressed. On my journey towards self discovery I knew that unless I could master my emotions, I would forever be but a feather in the wind living life by default.
As I began noting my positive or negative feelings around others, I also began either pulling away from or gravitating to others. As I spent more time with people who saw the best in me, and less time with those who liked to pick out their perceived flaws of me, my state of being shifted to a much more positive state.
After watching the news or reading a newspaper, notably I would carry the weight of the negativity in my body as if what happened to others had happened to me or someone in my family. My mind would race with thoughts of "What if that happened to me or someone I loved?", and anxiety would fill my body.
Two years ago I stopped reading the newspaper and watching the evening news. It seems that the more I pay attention to me, and those I love, and the less I pay attention to the bad that is happening in the world, the more pleasant my life becomes.
These days I practice the "Wouldn't it be nice if..." game instead. Wouldn't it be nice if there were peace on earth? Wouldn't it be nice to be as healthy as a body could be? Wouldn't it be nice to win the lottery? Wouldn't it be nice to buy a new car?
It has been said that whatever a man thinks he is, he is. And whatever a man thinks he is not, he is not. Both statements are true.
By reprogramming our belief systems, we take control not only of our minds, but our entire world too.
