Thoughts Create Behavior
Vic Johnson
Cause and effect are as absolute and undeviating in the hidden realm of thought
as in the world of visible and material things. ~ As A Man Thinketh
We remember from science class Newton's physical law that "every action creates an equal and opposite reaction." Or, every cause has an effect. And because it is a law, it is absolute and undeviating. It always happens—in every circumstance, under every condition.
James Allen says the same law that applies in the physical also applies in the world of thought. Every effect must have an originating cause. Our life does not develop as a result of chance but as a result of causes.
In the thought world, a thought (the cause) creates a feeling (the effect). Feelings can eventually materialize in the physical world because they create actions or behavior. These actions cause results or outcomes, and thus our life goes.
When we say a person "looks worried" what has taken place? A negative thought of some kind (the cause) triggered a feeling of worry (the effect) that materialized in the physical world through the person's facial actions. Those feelings may also materialize in other ways. For instance, by increased blood pressure or nausea. All of these "effects" originated from the original cause which was a thought.
Dr. Wayne Dyer writes that "all of our behavior results from the thoughts that preceded it...So the thing to work on is not your behavior but the thing that caused your behavior, your thoughts."
That was so liberating to me because I was so frustrated in trying to change the behaviors that I knew were causing the pain in my life. But I had been working on the wrong thing.
We cannot change anything in our life without first changing the originating cause. And everything in our life originates in our thoughts.
As Jim Rohn says: "If the idea of having to change ourselves makes us uncomfortable, we can remain as we are. We can choose rest over labor, entertainment over education, delusion over truth, and doubt over confidence. The choices are ours to make. But while we curse the effect, we continue to nourish the cause."
And that's worth thinking about.
Tapped In, Turned On
Abraham Hicks
You cannot get sick enough to help sick people get better. You cannot get poor enough to help poor people thrive. It is only in your thriving that you have anything to offer anyone. If you're wanting to be of an advantage to others, be as tapped in, turned in, turned on as you can possibly be.
Relating to the Negative
The Danger of Repression
For the last several years, there has been a lot of focus on the power of positive thinking. Many people have come to misinterpret this wisdom to mean that it is not okay to have a bad mood or a negative thought or feeling. This can lend a kind of superficiality to their relationship with life and relationships with other people. It can also lead them to feel that if a negative thought or feeling comes up, in themselves or someone else, they must immediately block it out. When they do this, they are engaging in the act of repressing a part of themselves that needs to seen, heard, and processed.
When we repress parts of ourselves, they don’t go away so much as they get buried deep within us, and they often come out when we least expect it. On the other hand, if we allow ourselves to be fully human, honoring all the thoughts, feelings, and moods that pass through us on a given day, we create a more conscious relationship with ourselves. Instead of blocking out thoughts and feelings that we label as negative, we can simply observe them and then let them go. They only get stuck when we react to them negatively, pushing them down and out of sight where they get lodged in our unconscious minds. A healthier solution might be to develop a practice of following any negative thought we may have with a positive thought. This works well because positive thoughts are many times more powerful than negative thoughts.
Rather than setting our minds up in such a way that we become fearful of the contents of our own consciousness, blocking out anything that is less than 100 percent positive, we might resolve to develop a friendlier attitude toward ourselves, trusting in our inherent goodness. When we recognize our true inner worth, a few dark clouds passing through our minds will not intimidate us. We will see them for what they are—small, dark figures passing through an expansive sky of well-being and truth.
Guidance
Militza Segura-Landrau
Divine light, within and around me, leads me on the path of good.
Relaxing in front of a glowing fireplace on a cold winter's day, I feel the warmth that is radiating out to me. In this reflective time, I remember that no matter the season, the spirit of God within is radiating in and through me as divine light.
Spirit within discloses all I need to know in making what I may consider the most ordinary and extraordinary decisions. There is nothing, absolutely nothing, hidden from me or denied to me in the way of understanding. Through such understanding, I am being guided on my right path.
I am eager to make new discoveries, to move beyond my usual comfort zone in exploring my world. On my journey of life, I am following divine light, which leads me steadily on my path of good.
Setting a Limit to Sit with Emotions
How Long?
Our emotions color our lives with varying palettes. Sometimes we feel a strong emotion in reaction to something that has happened, but emotions also visit us seemingly out of the blue, flooding us unexpectedly with joy or grief or melancholy. Like the weather, they come and go, influencing our mental state with their particular vibration. Sometimes a difficult emotion hangs around longer than we would like, and we begin to wonder when it will release its hold on us. This is often true of grief stemming from loss, for example, or lingering anger over a past event.
Usually, if we allow ourselves to feel our emotions fully when they come up, they recede naturally, giving way to another and another. When an emotion haunts us, it is often because we are afraid of really feeling it. Emotions like despair and rage are powerful, and it is natural to want to hold them at bay. Certainly, we don’t want to let them take us over so that we say or do things we later regret. When we are facing this kind of situation, it can be helpful to ask the spirit, “How long do I need to sit with these emotions, how long do I need to feel these emotions before they can pass?” If you ask sincerely and wait, an answer will come. Setting a time limit on your engagement with that difficult emotion may be just the technique you need to face it fully.
When you have a sense of how much time you need to spend, set a timer. Sit down and make yourself available to the emotion that has been nagging you. All you have to do is feel it. Avoid getting attached to it or rejecting it. Simply let it ebb and flow within you. Emotions are by their nature cyclical, so you can trust that just as one reaches its apex it will pass. Each time you sit with its presence without either repressing or acting out, you will find that that difficult emotion was the catalyst for much needed emotional healing.
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