So, reader, friend, I wanted to give you a little update because we’re in a new month now and some of you may recall that I started the new year with a very clear intention: to do an experiment on myself in in what I call the power of the mind. The idea is that every day, all the time, I choose to think positively about everything.
For real.
I have read about this and studied it. I have hung out with the idea for a long time. I hear Joe Dispenza and Michael Singer and Caroline Myss and many others talk about this. I started the new year reading Marcus Aurelius, who, two thousand years ago, was writing about this stuff, too.
So it feels like the concept has some staying power. I just have never understood why more people aren’t practicing this, why so many people are angry and sad and anxious and confused when all of these amazing humans have been telling us for a really long time that we have the power to create the conditions of our life, basically by controlling out thoughts. Which, I mean, come on, let’s face it, it’s free! You don’t have to sit through endless hours of counseling or take any drugs or anything other than stop yourself from thinking junk thoughts and start thinking positively.
Your thoughts, so the theory goes, create your material reality.
This should have been the curriculum in school, but, well, school.
For example, if you walk around all the time telling yourself that you suck at managing money, if you tell all your friends and your partner and your kids that you can’t get a grip on money, that you’ve never been good with money then you’re keeping that lousy story alive, you’re feeding it new energy all the time. And, surprise, surprise, you won’t get any better at managing your money. Everything will stay the same because that’s what you believe and that’s what you think and that’s the story you tell all the time.
If you choose instead to tell yourself the story that you are allowed to have money and you can handle having money and you do the work involved: get a ledger and write everything down, all your income and all the outgoing money, and you commit yourself to eliminating your debt or saving enough to, say, spend a month in the Bahamas, then that’s what’s going to happen. Every single day you tell yourself … I am allowed to have money and I can handle it … then you have changed the story and your life will follow.
So I wanted to share some updates after committing myself to this process for one month now.
First, I have never slept better. I was always a pretty good sleeper, but in recent times when I was awake in the wee hours of the morning I would get up and do some work. Then I’d sleep for a while longer. Not ideal. I am astonished by how well I sleep now, with little or no interruption, I sleep eight or nine hours a night.
The choice to have a positive mindset has spilled over to my overall health. I feel lighter and healthier. I eat more greens and stretch more often.
My conscious awareness of the world around me is expanding. What I mean is that I see things in my peripheral vision a lot more often now. I have always had this awareness, of light and other kinds of energy moving nearby, but I’m seeing a lot more now with a lot more frequency. In other words, my energy field is growing and my sense of other energetic experiences in my midst is expanding, too.
The universe is answering my queries with astonishing velocity. This morning I was thinking very clearly about the next stages of my life, where I want to be and what I want to be doing. I wrote to a friend to ask about space in her beautiful building and she responded within minutes with the information that space is opening up there next month.
I have shifted, without thinking about it, from thinking positively about all circumstances to choosing joy at all times. It was a natural and seamless progression. I feel the joy in my chest, welling up and spreading throughout my body. I smile a lot these days. My new thing is imagining every single cell in my body bursting with joy. Needless to say, this promotes good health, too.
What can I say? It’s working. There is an ease to my life, a genuine joy. I look forward to every new day. I am gentler in my relationships and clearer about the people and places I do not want to be around or in.
Life isn’t just on my side, life is inside, outside and all around.
The joy I feel has upped my curiosity quotient. I am amazed by everything: plants and snow and the light and blue sky. There are many synchronicities in my days, and those bring joy, too. It’s a circle of light.
I believe we are meant to live this way.
Like anything in life, this thing takes practice and dedication. It’s like building muscle, you see good results and you want to stick with the program, then something distracts you or maybe you reach a plateau and fall back into your old habits and routines. But you got a glimpse of something better and it feels good. In the case of the power of the mind, better feels kind of infinite. I cannot wait to see what comes next.
xomo
we are what we think, most agreed!
I live for today. I actually enjoy saving money and investing. Even at 78, I give myself permission to enjoy being in a good position and protecting my money.