Accurate Thinking
With the Right Thoughts, You Create the Right Beliefs.
Your thoughts are creative and powerful. With the right thoughts, you create the right beliefs, and you achieve much of what you want. I am a living example of how using correct thinking works. Not too long ago I began thinking "It would be great to be a World Class Athlete". I began to learn more about what it takes, I began to add activities to my exercise program that lined up with excellence and I added it to my list of affirmations. Two months later I got an acceptance letter from the USA Triathlon Association that I have been selected to compete in the National Finals in Nebraska. Not a coincidence folks!
Your thoughts can create a wonderful life, bring you more wealth, more confidence, more success, better relationships-just about anything you want.
However, your thoughts can also make your life miserable, lead to financial disaster, create unneeded struggle, increased emotional pain and more hardships, and force you into dysfunctional relationships-the kind that just don't work or leave you unhappy and unfulfilled.
So how do you change your thinking to create a wonderful life, bring you more wealth, more confidence, more success, better relationships-just about anything you want? Three ways that work for me are affirmations, choosing positive thoughts, and always learning new things will dramatically change your life.
An affirmation is usually a prayer or phrase that you repeat 2-3 time a day to make a declaration to yourself and to the Universe affirming your intention for this to be the truth in your world. We all have in our brains a thing called a Reticular Activating System (RAS), which is like a filter that lets in information that we need and filters out information that we don't. If we didn't have this system, we would be bombarded with so much information that our senses would overload and we would go into massive overwhelm. Instead, our brain registers what matters to us based on our goals, needs, interests, and desires. Keep in mind, as mentioned in our opening quote, that if you don't use this power actively, your subconscious backlog of "weeds"-past fears, failures, traumas, and resentments-will be passively programming the RAS for you, probably creating negative outcomes behind your back!
Positive thinking really does change your brain-not in some magical, "spooky action at a distance" kind of way, but in a real, physical way. The science is called neuroplasticity. It means that your thoughts can change the structure and function of your brain. The idea was first introduced by William James in 1890. He was believed to be one of the most influential philosophers the United States has ever produced, but his ideas were soundly rejected by scientists, who uniformly believed the brain was unchangeable and rigidly mapped out, with certain parts of the brain controlling certain functions. They believed that if a part of the brain is dead or damaged, the function associated with it is altered or lost. Well, it appears they were wrong. Neuroplasticity now enjoys wide acceptance as scientists are proving the brain is endlessly adaptable and dynamic. It has the power to change its own structure, even for those with the severe neurological damage. People with problems like strokes, cerebral palsy, and mental illness can retrain other areas of their brains through repetitive mental and physical activities to take over other functions of their body. So, what does this have to do with positive thinking and with you? It means that repetitive positive thought and positive activity can rewire your brain and strengthen brain areas that stimulate positive feelings.
I think that a challenged, stimulated brain is key to having a vibrant life, especially as we age. As we are all getting older, news keeps coming in that staying active and keeping our brains constantly engaged helps to stave off mental and physical decline and disease. This has many of us asking how best to do so. The simple answer is: Keep Learning to Grow.
Nancy Merz Nordstrom, author of Learning Later, Living Greater, advocates life-long learning. "When you look at the benefits gained from keeping your mind sharp, it's incredible. Lifelong learning is like a health club for your brain. And an active mind can stimulate physical activity and keep your spirits high. It's an all-around fantastic tool for better health." Here are some of the main areas of your life that will improve when you keep learning new things as you grow older.
Affirmations, being positive and learning new things not only keeps us healthy, it also adds so much joy and meaning to our lives.
