Terri Andersen
I just ran across a quote I saved a long time ago:
“The negative thinker tends to draw back to himself negative results, while the positive thinker activates the world around him positively.”
The author was Norman Vincent Peale and I remember telling myself he's right, the way we think does have an influence on the path our life takes. Does that mean I never have negative thoughts? No. I try to avoid them, but negative thoughts do have a way of creeping into our heads without us even realizing it, so it's up tò us to fight them with positives. I know I've gotten pretty bent out of shape over all the new technology I can't seem to catch up with, and the fact that old age is creeping up on me much faster than I’d like, but when I think of the beauty of nature that surrounds me and the joys of having a family that I’ve been blessed with, I can't help but feel positively grateful. Scholars say the universe gives back to us what we give to the universe: If we're generous and grateful, we will be rewarded with more to be grateful for, but if we're mean and selfish, peace and happiness will elude us. - It's often been said, if you want to be happy, do what it takes to make someone else happy, too. Giving our ego a back seat and paying attention to what others need is a step in the right direction, be it by volunteering time or giving money. There may be times when the good we do and giving our best to the world might not be appreciated, but we shouldn't let that bother us. Mother Teresa advocated that we do good and give our best to the world anyway, and she was honored all over the world. - I've known people who claimed there were no positives in their life; all they focused on were what was wrong and what they didn't have, as opposed to what was right in their life and what they did have. They didn't acknowledge the fact that their body had no serious ailments, they had a house to live in and food on the table. All they saw was what someone else had that they didn't, like a bigger house or a fancier car, but they weren't interested in doing what it takes to have what they wanted. What's the one thing anyone with a broken arm or leg would want most? Healing of that arm or leg, right? Yet if nothing is broken, we tend to take for granted all of our parts that are working just fine, For anyone who doesn't think that's so special, consider former “Superman” Christopher Reeve and what he had to go through after the accident that paralyzed him. In spite of his acknowledging that the mind and spirit transcend the body, in a Reader's Digest interview he admitted that sometimes it bothered him when people took their ability to move for granted. Best selling author Wayne Dyer, who often appears on public television, emphasizes the fact that our thoughts have a big influence on what happens in our lives. According to Dyer, if we say we can't be happy unless we have this or that, we're not allowing happiness into our lives and it will elude us as long as we think that way. He also tells us that holding a grudge and harboring hate or resentment does more internal harm to the hater than to the one being hated, and when we learn to forgive we do ourselves a favor." Another piece of advice from Dyer is that if we pursue a goal and believe we can achieve it, we put ourselves - in a frame of mind that brings good vibrations into our field of energy. British essayist, novelist and poet Ꮐ. K. Chesterton put it in simpler words: “If you think wrong, you go wrong.” - What we have to remember is that our most important power is the power of choice. We can choose the negative or we can choose the positive, We can choose to give instead of take, and choose to see the best in people instead of the worst. - A quote attributed to Abraham Lincoln says "A man can be as happy as he makes up his mind to be." The way I see it is that everyone has ups and downs in their life, and our happiness or unhappiness depends on which we choose to focus on, the ups or the downs.
