Since we’ve been knee high to a grasshopper, we’ve been taught to be aware of the words that come out of our mouths; that they have the power to hurt as well as to heal. Although it may sometimes seem like it, words don’t come out of nowhere; they begin with a thought so perhaps that’s where we need to begin – with our thoughts.
Of course, it isn’t possible to monitor our every thought. The average person has nearly 50 thoughts per minute, 48.6 to be exact. That’s 700,000 thoughts a day, according to the laboratory of Neuro Imagining at UCLA. That’s a lot of thoughts and each one affects our personal world and the world at large. Every thought we have is going out into the world, beaming out from us, following us around, and affecting everyone and everything we encounter. Don’t take my word for it. Test it out in your own life. How does the world treat you when you’re feeling really good about yourself and life? Do others seem to be kind and loving and the world a bit brighter? How about when you’re out of sorts? Does the world around you seem to conspire to get in your way? Think about it.
I’ve noticed in my life that when I think I need to move faster, I grow impatient. Even if I have plenty of time to get to where I’m going, or even if I have nowhere to go, when I start thinking that I need to hurry along, I get impatient. And I get a visceral reaction. My body tenses; I feel rushed and soon start feeling aggravated. My outer world is reflecting my inner thoughts and my body’s reactions to those thoughts. Drivers cut in front of me, forcing me to brake and slow down; anger and stress rise in me; no one is friendly, and everyone seems to be grumpy. I’ll grow increasingly ill-tempered and so does the whole world around me. It’s a mean, harsh, depressing place that I’ve come to, and it all started with that thought that I needed to hurry.
Then there are the times (most of the time thankfully) where I feel the deep satisfaction of having a day full of clients who tell me how I’ve helped them and where writing flows magically, and I come into the evening hours feeling the energy of the day. Doors are opened for me; everyone smiles and is friendly; traffic moves at a comfortable pace; life is joyous, and I am filled with gratitude.
I’ve noticed this in my life, how my attitude is changed by my thoughts and my thoughts change my world. So, I watch my thoughts, not all 700,000 a day, but the ones I can catch, the ones I can say to, “Hey, I don’t like what you’re creating in my life so get out of here,” or, “Hey, you’re creating what I want in my life, so let’s have more thoughts like you.”
I’m not saying it’s easy to monitor my thoughts or to make a point of changing them once I am aware of what is going through my mind. I am saying the effort is worth it to me. I like being happy. I like having doors open for me and people smiling at me. I like having clients tell me I’ve helped make their lives better. I like living in a world of love instead of one of fear and anger. It’s worth it to me to make the effort to watch my thoughts, changing them when necessary for an attitude adjustment. It’s worth it to me to be a beam of love, of joy and gratitude, of kindness and compassion, of understanding and acceptance. It’s worth the effort to me because it’s what I want for my life. Don’t you?
I think we all do. We all want a life lived in grace where love is more exciting than the latest violence captured on the news or in Hollywood; where we take more pleasure in just being than in griping about politicians; where we speak out against injustice in a way that forms solutions instead of yelling fearfully the same rhetoric that only those who agree hear; where we go to bed at night with satisfaction in a day well lived and wake with excitement for the day that awaits. I believe we all want this, and I believe we all can have this world. It’s a simple as listening to our thoughts and choosing to rewrite them for our own good and the good of all.
Thank you for making the effort to help create a better world one person – one thought – at a time.