This really is a rhetorical question, of course. Everyone talks to themselves even if they aren’t totally aware of it (I think most people are aware though).

The major difference comes in HOW you talk to yourself. This can make or break you. The way in which you talk to yourself shapes your day and how you think about yourself as well as about your surrounding environment (and the people in it).

When we talk about the power of words, most people think of those words that are said out loud. They are very important, of course. But,  more important are those words and phrases we utter to ourselves and especially about ourselves. Often our talk to ourselves occupies the majority of our time – when we’re driving, working, at night, running, swimming, doing other workouts, meditating etc. Even when we’re supposed to be paying attention to others. Frequently our mind wanders back to thoughts like “how do I look?”, “is my hair ok?” “do I have anything horrible stuck in my teeth like you see in those ads?”, “why did I bother to come here? I don’t fit in? No one likes me?” etc.

Even when you think (or say) something abstract like “that was really stupid”, your subconscious thinks you’re talking to it and telling it that you are stupid. Have you ever said something like “I can’t believe I did that! What an idiot I am?” I know I’ve thought those things. And I have to work rapidly (assuming I’m attentive enough to notice it) to counter that with “that is not my truth”.

What about when we’re plagued by worry? What thoughts go through your mind when you engage in the worrisome thoughts? Be careful there – if you don’t catch yourself, you’ll continue to say the same things over and over again. You know what that leads to – yep – a belief – remember that a belief is just a thought you keep thinking over and over again. You slam it into your subconscious enough times that your brain begins to think it’s true.

Try this for a week: Monitor everything you say to yourself. I don’t want you to feel you have free will to say anything to others but your job for the next seven days is to really pay attention to those words, phrases, thoughts that swirl around inside your head. Write down the common ones but when you recognize something that is giving you the wrong message, immediately say “That is NOT my truth”.

In a week tell me how clear you think your mind is? Is it more clear and happier than today? What changes have happened if any – these may not be external changes (although that is possible too) but there should be some internal changes that you can recognize.

Let us know – put your responses in the comment box below and tell us any changes or even any challenges you’re come across. Did you recognize any patterns? Talk about them with your family and friends and share them here!

Terrie

The post Do You Talk To Yourself? first appeared on Getting Unstuck, LLC.

Whatever you’re thinking about is literally like planning a future event. When you’re worrying, you are planning. When you’re appreciating you are planning… What are you planning?
Abraham

“What are you planning” asks Abraham.  And Abraham means “what are you thinking about?” Are you contemplating success and prosperity and health? Or, are you thinking about debt, illness and failure? What are the predominant thoughts going through your head?

Take this week to pay strict attention to what is going in and out of your mind. Even if they are fleeting thoughts, record them. Make a list of general thought patterns such as “prosperity”, “success”, “happiness”, “love”, “peace of mind”, “worthiness”, “health (NOT healing but “health”) and what other topics you normally think about. Then make two columns and give the columns opposite names. As an alternative you could list the opposites further on down the list but then you’re more inclined to think about them. Try something like “yes” for one column and “opposite” for the name of the other column. I’m sure you can come up with something that will meet your needs.

Throughout the day put a tick mark on the paper as you have a thought in each of the categories – put the tick mark in the column that corresponds to the type of thought you had. You may have to make a lot of ticks to keep up with all the thoughts you have during the day but try to record as many as you can. Be honest about it. Don’t just “remember” to do it when you’re having a good thought. Record them all if you can. The goal of this practice is to see what patterns you have.

At the end of each day, count up the tick marks and see what has happened during your day. Were you mostly positive or did you stray over to the less than positive side more? No one is going to see this but you so be honest and make a proper assessment at the end of the day. Then decide what direction you want the next day to go in. Once you’ve tried this, you’ll be more conscious of your thoughts and will most likely find yourself catching your thoughts in the middle of the day and even changing them. It’s ok if you have to put a tick mark down in order for you to make the change because the whole point is to ultimately have the majority of the marks in the direction/column you want.

Remember what we started off with – you are planning events when you think things so make sure these are events you want to attend and even ones you want to invite other people to!

Try this simple exercise and let me know if it helps you be aware of your thoughts. Then move on to how you feel when you have these thoughts. That would be the next step. Do you have anxiety, do you smile, do you enjoy what you’re doing more, etc. Record your feelings after you’ve gotten the hang of this!

Terrie

The post Momentum Monday first appeared on Getting Unstuck, LLC.

You always hear “You are what you think”. But that’s only partially true.  That sentence should be reworded to “you become what you think and feel”. What you currently ARE is a result of what you’ve thought and felt prior to right now. In other words, what you “thought” before.

It doesn’t really do anyone any good to wonder “why me”, “why did this happen to me” because they don’t really want the answer which is that we have brought everything into our lives that we have. The Law of Attraction always words – even when things aren’t as we wish. The Law of Attraction doesn’t work only with the things we say we desire.

Everything in our lives was brought there by our thoughts and feelings. Always remember that. When you start to get angry at someone or criticize someone or some thing, ask yourself what you’re feeling right now and if you really want more of that in your life.  Because you are focusing on that emotion and pretty strongly perhaps, too, if you’re angry.

That emotion is what you are focusing on and what you are putting out to the Universe. Remember that the Universe stands ready to bring you whatever it is you’re looking for and concentrating on. When you put such emotion into a thought or feeling such as anger, the Universe doesn’t know that it’s just a temporary thing. It thinks (if it could think) “wow, Terrie is really focusing on that thing…she must want more”.

So as s dutiful servant it brings more of the same thing I was angry about into my life. Then I get angry again and the whole scenario is repeated over and over and over again. It will continue as such until I change and start focusing on something else. But you can imagine that after the second time that “thing” comes into my life (sometimes even after the first), my vibration won’t be the greatest. Not only will I be angry that it’s happened again but I still have the anger at the “thing”. So that’s double anger. Then I start with “Why me, why is this continuing to happen to me”.  That continues the focus/vibration on a lower level than I would like.

Remember the definition of insanity we talked about (doing the same thing over and over yet expecting different results). So, I have to change my thoughts and focus completely in order to stop repeating this pattern. I can’t just say “I will stop being angry” because that brings the situation and events into my thought process = focus. This is where I could really use a “Kodak moment” to put my mind on other things. I also could practice my story telling technique and start telling a story to myself the way I want it to happen.

Often, people’s reaction to the realization that they are what they thought can be one of discouragement. They think that they can’t do anything to change their life, that they are stuck with what they have thought and felt all these years.

The Universe, however, is not stuck in the past as we are. It will respond to a change in your thoughts and vibrations almost immediately. My most vivid remembrance of this happening in my life is from over 20 years ago when I was moving to Quantico, Va and all the plans I had laid out fell through at the very last minute. The movers had my stuff loaded and on the way to the address of the house I thought I was going to move into when I found out that there was a significant delay and I wouldn’t be able to move into it. My mother, the realtor and I had been driving around all day looking for another house. NOTHING was right, not even ok. So I was pouting in the back seat while my mother and the realtor were chatting away in the front seat. I was contemplating my possibilities. Suddenly I yelled out (amazing we didn’t go off the road because I’m sure I shocked them both) “I am not moving again!” – I did not want to put my stuff in storage and then have to move a second time.  The amount of emotion behind that statement was palpable. I am not sure I’ve ever made such a declaration.

The realtor said “well, I have three more houses but they are in Fredericksburg and I didn’t think you wanted to be that far away”. I told him to take us there. The first two weren’t going to work but the VERY LAST house we looked at was absolutely perfect. And I mean perfect. It was a model so it already had all the utilities hooked up, had a gigantic back yard (for my dogs), had a basement which I wanted, and was close to the roads I needed to drive on to easily get to the highway.  And I could move in the next day because it was a model.  I had declared what I wanted and the Universe had delivered.

Usually there is a Law of Gestation at work so that things don’t materialize as fast as this did but the house had always been there. My emotion simply told the Universe I was really, really serious so it led me to this house.

The Universe didn’t care that I was upset or pouting. It only cared about the amount of emotion I had generated. My vibration was so strong that the Universe couldn’t resist.

Another example shows that the Law of Gestation is involved and that we cannot get impatient with these Laws. I decided when I was four that I wanted to be a doctor. I never ever wavered even when I developed epilepsy. I had to change my ultimate goal of being a neurosurgeon but I was still going to be a doctor. Then in my senior year of college I didn’t get accepted into medical school. I never gave up though. For three years I continued to apply. I knew nothing of metaphysics at that time. I just knew I was going to be a doctor. Then everything fell into place (long story) and I was finally accepted at medical school and my dream came true. But it was because I never gave up on my thought and emotion about what I was supposed to be.

What do you want? Do you have a medical problem? Don’t think about healing; picture yourself as healthy and whole. If you think about healing, then you continue to focus on the illness even though you think you’re directing your thoughts in a more positive direction. In order to heal, you have to have something wrong. You don’t want something wrong. You want to see yourself as completely whole and well. Start telling your story about your healthy self.

Use the same principle with prosperity, relationship, peace of mind issues. Focus on what you want to be, how you want to be, not what you want to get rid of.

Think back and find where something you’ve felt very strongly about has come into your life. Tell us about it in the comments box below.

Remember that you are what you thought but you can always change your thinking!

Terrie

The post You Are What You Thought…. AND What You Feel first appeared on Getting Unstuck, LLC.

 The tragic Navy Yard shooting yesterday brought a few items up for me (that’s where I worked for 9 years before I retired):

1. I think that people seem to have become immune (or maybe numb/anesthetized) to events like this and that bothers me.
   • It first struck me last week when the news sites had very very little coverage of 9/11. People where I work (on an Army base even) didn’t even bother to observe the moment of silence – not one single moment. That disgusted me.
   • Yesterday as I was driving home there was a talk show (another thing I normally pay no attention to fortunately) and the guy’s primary concern was whether the news folks in Texas should be talking more about the shooting or the fact that we finally got rain. That is really pathetic. He was not even concerned about all the flooding in Colorado. I know we are in the midst of a big drought here but come on – what are the important things in life?
   • Almost none of my Facebook friends even acknowledged the shooting. That made me wonder about my friends. It was all about running and internet business and food and whatever else they normally posted about. Nothing different. Funny that the runners were “all over” the Boston Marathon Bombing but this event seemed “unimportant” to everyone.
2. I remembered why I don’t watch the news last night. It’s NOT news. It’s a bunch of opinions and slurs and stirring everyone up to be afraid.  Even the one good news story (the raising of the Concordia ship) was minimally covered and they emphasized the cost and problems – not the fact that this is the first time this has been done and how it will help lead the way for other salvage operations. The news is supposed to report the facts. I suppose that if they did that, there would be no material for all the time they have to fill. Imagine if they had to fill a full 24 hours every single day with just facts! What a challenge that would be for them. Because I was stationed at the Navy Yard I am somewhat qualified to render an opinion about some of what they reported as “facts”.  These were not facts, they were misinterpretations, they were statements by people who were willing to go on the radio to say stupid, inciteful things just to get some acknowledgement. I remembered why I don’t watch the news.
3. People all have their stories and they carry them around like a gunny sack of rocks.

If you just concentrated on the facts that occurred yesterday you would be able to make an informed opinion on what happened – if an opinion was/is even required. What are the facts? This man was formerly in the Navy; he worked as a subcontractor and had access to the Navy Yard as a subcontractor; He gained entry to this particular building carrying at least 1 weapon if not more; he opened fire and killed 12 people and wounded several others; he died during this event.

There are more facts but other than for the law enforcement investigators, what difference do they make to you or me? Ok, maybe we “need” to know if it was an act of terrorism and if so, are there others out there that could be planning other events. I’m not sure I “need” to know that as opposed to needing to know if they found out positively that there was other potential danger. Do I need to know about his background and about him working at a restaurant etc? Heck no. What import does that have for me? Not a bit. So why should I clutter up my mind and my thoughts and feelings with all the emotional reporting that is going on about this. These folks are not expressing sorrow and desire to help the families and other victims (those that were frightened at being shot at etc). They are trying to stir people up and get them going – this time it’s once more about gun control. It’s to perpetuate fear. I think people are good enough at creating and living their fears without the help of the media magnifying those fears. I also heard these same news people reporting that if the government shut down in October then in a couple of weeks the US wouldn’t be able to pay it’s bills and would be “broken”.  They snuck that in but you know that’s another fear generating story they are implanting in us.

What stories are you carrying around? I talked about this last week or the week before.  Can you change your past (and even present) stories into “feel good” (or maybe even neutral) stories instead of the bad news stories we make them. Bad things happen but what we feel about them is what counts.  We can replay an event, see it as just a series of facts (without applying/feeling the emotions) and have it be a part of our past – without negative influence. What types of good things can you pull out of that experience once you extract the negative emotions? What have you learned? How has your life changed and how can you change it even more in a positive way.

I’m not discounting how we are affected by events and situations but it’s how we respond and later relive that has to be changed. If you don’t work at changing your feelings about those things, you will continue to be miserable and you will continue to attract more of the same.  We are not taught to “spin” our stories in a positive direction. We are just taught to tell them. Often we go into great detail so that we can tell an “interesting story”.  Consider not even telling your story. Allow it to dissipate in power. Or see if you can write it out or talk it out putting the positive spin on it. Start small and work your way up. It’s a new habit but one that will change your life!

All those that think I went on a rant are free to comment. You are right, it is a rant but there’s also an important metaphysical lesson here if you want to attract more good things in your life.

Terrie

The post Stories, Stories and More Stories first appeared on Getting Unstuck, LLC.

You’re sitting there kind of zoned out and all of a sudden someone says “what are you thinking?” and it pulls you out of your reverie. You probably answer “uh, nothing. What’s up”?

Does that sound familiar? You may actually believe the “nothing” part of that story but it’s not true. There is almost no moment during any day that you are NOT thinking something.

The challenge I have for you is to pay attention to what you are thinking ALL the time.  Decide to be diligent for at least ONE day this week (preferably more) to monitoring your thoughts – be your own “Big Brother”. You’ll be very surprised.

It’s pretty simple – you can use a small notebook you can carry in your pocket or your purse or you could even use a portable recording device (there are many apps for your smartphone that would serve that purpose).

Yes, I know you have to work and you have to take care of your family and more. But these busy times are the times when you’ll usually find the most revealing thoughts – things like:

• “I can’t believe it, I don’t have any time to myself”
• “I’m so overwhelmed”
• “Gees, what more do they expect me to do”?
• “Get out of my way damnit, I’m in a hurry”
• “I’m so stressed out. I can’t take it any more”
• “I hate this job (or fill in any blank)”
• “It sucks to be me”
• “Why me”?
• “I can’t win”
• “I can’t catch a break”
• “How did I get myself in this mess”?
• “I’m so angry/mad/p.o’ed”
• “I’m afraid that ……”
• “I’m so tired”
• “I’m sick and tired of …….”
• “You’re killing me with all this”
• “I’m so ashamed that….”
• “I”m so embarrassed”
• “I wonder what he’s looking at”
• “I wish I weren’t so ….. (fat, dumb, stupid, lazy, etc)”
• “I wonder what would happen if…”
• “I’ll never get all this done”
• “That’s ugly”
• “I wish I had that”
• “God I’m starved”

These are just a few common thoughts I came up in a few seconds. There are millions more that you have going through your mind repeatedly.  The key word is “repeatedly” – we think the same things (perhaps with minor variations” over and over again. And if you remember how Abraham defines a belief, it’s “a thought we keep thinking over and over again”. So, guess what? You’re creating or reinforcing beliefs with all these “simple” thoughts.

Write down (make an effort) or record all your thoughts. It is important that you pay attention to all of them, not just the good ones, not just the bad ones – all of them. The idea is so that you can see how your thoughts balance out – what percentage of the time do you spend thinking positive thoughts and how much time do you spend thinking less than positive thoughts. And then, what thoughts are you repeating throughout the day – whether positive or not. Those are the ones you’re cementing in your subconscious as beliefs. You really want to make a conscious choice about what beliefs you cultivate, don’t you?

When you write these thoughts down, pay attention to what’s going on at that time – are you stressed, relaxed, working out, in the car, what? Make sure to pay attention to any follow-on thoughts and actions. For instance, if, after you think, “God I’m starved”, you head to the snack machine or the refrigerator and pick something you wouldn’t necessarily describe as “healthy”, write down what thoughts (if any) are going through your mind as you hit that button or pull open the frig door. Is it “I really shouldn’t be doing this” or is it “some chips or ice cream is just what I need right now”.  Perhaps you’re not even thinking – you’re just rushing to the machine so that you can take the food to numb the feelings. Unfortunately, you may be using the food to numb the feelings (stress, overwhelm etc) but you’re probably still thinking while you’re doing it. And you’ve made a conscious choice to pick the food regardless of the negative thoughts because feeling the pain from the emotion is worse than feeling the guilt or shame from having eaten that ice cream.  Some people use cigarettes, alcohol, food, drugs, abuse, exercise or many other actions to keep from feeling certain emotions.  Do you want to keep using your “drug of choice”? Or do you want to change your behavior? If you want to change your behavior you have to change your thoughts.

Here’s a short example. Yesterday was the day runners could try to get into a popular 100 mile race (Umstead- one I know I could do well at). I had planned the day around the “registration attempt” time (11 am my time) and I’d used affirmations and beliefs that I was definitely going to get in. I had written in my gratitude journal every day that I was grateful that I got into Umstead 2014 (being specific so that the Universe knew that this was the one I meant, not sometime in the future).

11 a.m. came and I tried and to make a long story short, I didn’t get in. I could have spent the rest of the day being really bummed out and saying that all this stuff really doesn’t work and I’m just a hypocrite, blah blah blah. But you know what? That would have done absolutely nothing but bring my mood and vibration way down. I chose not to experience that so I realized that “everything always works out for me” (Lord knows I’ve experienced that so many times in my long life) and began to think about the alternative runs I could do or apply for. And my day improved. It took some conscious work but I chose to feel good, not to plummet to the depths of despair which I could easily have done had I not paid attention to my thoughts.

Are you up for this challenge? Can you commit to at least one day and hopefully more? Let us know by putting your comments in the box below.

Have a great day!

Terrie

The post What Are You Thinking? first appeared on Getting Unstuck, LLC.

As there is 1 1/2 more weeks left in January 2012, I continue to point out things that might have derailed you from your 2012 Success List. If you make it through January still on track, you’ll have a great chance of accomplishing your “successes”.

Emmet Fox wrote about “The Dictaphone” and I think that’s worth discussing today.

He proposed an imaginary experiment. Suppose that without your knowledge an invisible dictaphone was strapped to your shoulders the first thing tomorrow morning. You carry it with you all day long and every word you said was recorded. Tomorrow the recording was played back so you could hear every single word that you said. If you’re an average human being you’ll probably be a bit embarrassed. Think what would happen if the dictaphone also recorded every THOUGHT you had as well as every word you spoke.

Your subconscious mind absorbs EVERYTHING you think and say. Remember what I like to say “You are what you thought”, not really what you think. It’s what went into your subconscious before now that has molded your being and experience.

I emphasize that you need to monitor all your words – both spoken and thought. This is one of the most common reasons for “failure” in achieving your “Successes”. You set out with great intentions and do the groundwork of denials and affirmations but then go right back to your old ways of thinking and acting – using the same old phrases and thoughts – many of which are downright negative or have negative connotations. That will derail you as surely as quitting your pursuit. That’s why I’m emphasizing the “Words of Wisdom” series of posts. See what phrases we use in life on a daily basis, analyze what they mean and then wipe them from your vocabulary.

There is no way around it. You have to pay attention to what you’re saying and thinking. I suggest you get a small notebook you can carry in your pocket or purse and write down everything you hear and think as it happens. Then each night review this list and note the ones you want to eliminate and also think about the reason you need to do that. This will help you identify other phrases and thoughts you want to get rid of too. Things such as “I’m fed up”, “I’m sick and tired”, “You’re killing me”, “I can’t afford to….” etc.

Work on this for a week and see what changes in your life.

Terrie

The post What’s Being Recorded In Your Subconscious? first appeared on Getting Unstuck, LLC.

Or not wisdom perhaps. You all know that the one thing we preach over and over again is to watch your words (and phrases). This is so vital now at a time when you’re working on your success list! You can sabotage yourself without even knowing it. You have to be extremely conscientious about what is coming out of your mouth, what is going on inside your skull and even what you are letting in your ears (from others). You have to be the monitor. Learn to say “That is not my truth” whenever you hear, say or think something that is contrary to your desires.

This week’s “words of wisdom” phrase is

“You can’t win ’em all”.

How often do you hear this phrase? Quite a bit I bet.

What does it tell your subconscious mind?

It tells it that you cannot win everything. Do you want to believe that? Do you believe that? Of course you don’t. You want to win every challenge you’re involved with. You want to win everything. That will make you successful. It’s not greedy. It’s an attitude of wanting to succeed and that’s what we are all about here. So, eliminate that phrase. When you hear it said, simply say “That is not my truth, I can AND DO win them all! I am a success!”

Terrie

The post Words of Wisdom first appeared on Getting Unstuck, LLC.

Were you aware that you may be sabotaging yourself with the phrases and words you’re using? You have to be aware of the double meanings of words we use in our everyday vocabulary. English is filled with these words and unless you’re always alert, you’re liable to have them already a part of your everyday language.

Your subconscious mind does not understand which interpretation of English you’re going after. For example, it doesn’t know what you mean when you say “to” – it doesn’t know if you mean the number two (2), too (also) or to (as in “going to the movies”). It also can’t tell that words are separated – so, when you say “my life is in harmony” – your subconscious hears “inharmony” which is NOT what you want. You do not want your life to be inharmonious. Your mind doesn’t know that there was the space in between those two words – so you always want to put something in there such as “my life is in glorious harmony”.

Here’s 10 words/phrases that you want to avoid or reword:

1) “No pain, no gain” – this tells your mind that nothing can be accomplished without you experiencing pain or discomfort. Is that what you really want? Wouldn’t you rather achieve your goals (exercise or otherwise) easily and quickly and most importantly painlessly? I know I would.

2) “You’re killing me” – I know this came from a movie but it’s something you want to be careful of. Same with “This is killing me” or “x is killing me” – you can insert any phrase you’ve heard or one you use. You don’t want to be saying this to your subconscious mind. “My knees are killing me”, “My back is killing me” – do you ever catch yourself saying this. What is this telling your mind and subsequently your body. This is a phrase you really want to avoid.

3) “I’m sick and tired of…..”. Think of how often you say this and how you feel at the end of each day that you say this. What are you telling your subconscious? That you are “sick” – so how often do you find yourself coming down with colds, getting headaches, etc? That you’re “tired” – how is your energy level? Is this a phrase that’s prominent in your vocabulary?

4) “I’m a survivor”. Do you really want to be a survivor? Here’s one dictionary’s definition of survivor – “a person who continues to function or prosper in spite of opposition, hardship, or setbacks”. Do you want to continually experience opposition, hardship or setbacks? When you say “I’m a survivor” your subconscious does not understand that it’s something you’ve been through in the past. It sees you as experiencing the hardships now and for as long as you say it.

5) “We shall overcome”. this is an interesting one. Here’s the definition of ‘overcome’ – “to get the better of in a struggle or conflict; conquer; defeat: to overcome the enemy.” So, even though you think this is a positive thing, it’s really not because it requires a struggle or conflict and you want to do anything you can to live your life without a struggle.

6) “You’re a pain in the neck”. Do you tell people this often, even in jest? Remember that your subconscious mind doesn’t know when you’re kidding. How does your neck feel – does it bother you a lot? If so, pay attention and see if this is a phrase in your vocabulary.

7) “I can’t stand it”. Your mind is hearing that you can’t stand or that you’re unable to continue to hold up either alone or against whatever it is you are referring to. “I can’t stand it” can buckle your knees or make your back or feet hurt – anything that involves your standing capability. Be careful or you’ll find yourself knocked off your feet.

8) “I’m dead tired”. Careful here too. First, you don’t want to make yourself tired no matter what and you surely don’t want to get sick enough that you die. Don’t laugh. Your subconscious can do anything, including cause a significant illness or death.

9) “Times are tough” or “The economy’s bad”. Even if the rest of the world is spouting this out as the truth, it does not have to be your truth. You do not want to create tough times or tough economy for you. Declare your times as excellent and prosperous and your economy as wealthy and prosperous. Declare this over and over and you’ll see it come true.

10) “Old habits are hard to break”. You don’t want to affirm that you can’t change your habits, do you? You want to easily create new habits, develop new procedures to improve your life. You don’t want anything in your life to be hard, do you?

These are just some of the phrases you’ll hear throughout your day and you’ll notice how they could possibly sabotage an otherwise terrific day or week or even month. Just paying attention to your words can change your life.

The post Are you sabotaging yourself with your words? 10 Phrases To Avoid.. first appeared on Getting Unstuck, LLC.

Do you think of your past and say “If only…..”? Or do you say “What if….”? Are you bitter about your past? Do you have regrets? Or, do you look at your past and say “Wow, I can’t believe how that event or situation changed my life”? Or even “What if that hadn’t happened? How would my life have been different”? Take a chance and a few hours and travel into your past writing down different things that have happened to you. They may be big events or small events. Just start by writing down events you can remember that seem(ed) significant.

This may take a bit of time but just let your mind wander. It does not matter if you write them down in chronological order or in order of significance. Everything will come into the proper perspective later. It helps if you actually use pen and paper. There is something about that hand-eye-brain connection. It certainly stimulates your creativity so it could very easily help you recall more memories.

Once you’ve taken the time to list your thoughts and prior activities, look at each one and see what happened after that event. This may take some thought because the consequences or related situations may not have occurred in close proximity. Some may be really close and others may be far apart. Let me give you an example. I didn’t get accepted into medical school right out of college as I had “planned”. I was devastated of course. I didn’t know what I was going to do with my life since I had wanted to be a doctor since I was 4 years old. But life continued. I kept applying every year and the second year I didn’t get accepted either. So, what good could possibly have come from that? Several things. First, it gave me time to mature which was very important as I began my trek into medicine. But more importantly, I developed a medical issue that wasn’t diagnosed for approximately a year. Had I been in medical school when this developed I would have either dropped out or failed out because of this condition. So, my not getting into medical school when I wanted was actually a very good thing. I was able to go after my condition was diagnosed and stabilized. During those two years I was feeling down and out, however, it did not feel like a good thing. We have to have faith that things really do happen for a reason.

Take the past and the things that have looked like bad luck and see what happened after them. How would your life have turned out had that ‘bad luck’ not happened? Although you can’t change things now, you can declare them good and be grateful for what has happened to you. Remember, declare everything that occurs as good and say “I declare this good and I see the good coming from it”. Do this no matter how dark and dismal something may appear. This statement will convince the Universe that you believe it and the Universe will make it good.

Your life really is what you make of it. You can learn how to craft the events that happen to you and manifest your goals by altering your thoughts and words. The Art of Making Things Happen will assist you in this process.

The post How To Turn Your Past Into A Better Future first appeared on Getting Unstuck, LLC.

Today this is from Emmet Fox – we talk about our inner power all the time and he puts it so very well:

Strange as it may seem to you, there exists a mystic power that is able to transform your life so thoroughly, so radically, so completely, that when the process is completed your own friends would hardly recognize you, and, in fact, you would scarcely be able to recognize yourself. You would sit down and ask yourself: “Can I really be the man or woman that I vaguely remember, who went about under my name six months or six years ago? Was I really that person? Could that person have possibly been me?” And the truth will be that while in one sense you are indeed the same person, yet in another sense you will be someone utterly different.

This mystic but intensely real force can pick you up today, now, from the midst of failure, ruin, misery, despair – and in the twinkling of an eye, as Paul said, solve your problems, smooth out your difficulties, cut you free from any entanglements, and place you clear, safe, and happy upon the highroad of freedom and opportunity.

This mystic Power can teach you all things that you need to know, if only you are receptive and teachable. It can inspire you with new thoughts and ideas, so that your work may be truly original. It can impart new and wonderful kinds of knowledge as soon as you really want such knowledge – glorious knowledge – strange things not taught in schools or written in books. It can do for you that which is probably the most important thing of all in your present stage: it can find your true place in life for you, and put you into it too. It can find the right friends for you, kindred spirits who are interested in the same ideas and want the same things that you do. It can provide you with an ideal home. It can furnish you with the prosperity that means freedom, freedom to be and to do and to go as your soul calls.

But where, it will naturally be asked, is this wonderful, mystic Power to be contacted? Where may we find it? And how is it brought into action? The answer is perfectly simple – This Power is to be found within your own consciousness, the last place that most people would look for it. Right within your own mentality there lies a source of energy stronger than electricity, more potent than high explosive; unlimited and inexhaustible. You only need to make conscious contact with this Power to set it working in your affairs; and all the marvelous results enumerated can be yours. This is the real meaning of such sayings in the Bible as “The Kingdom of God is within you”; and “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and all the rest shall be added.”

The conscious discovery by you that you have this Power within you, and your determination to make use of it, is the birth of the child. And it is easy to see how very apt the symbol is, for the infant that is born in consciousness is just such a weak, feeble entity as any new-born child, and it calls for the same careful nursing and guarding that any infant does in its earliest days. After a time, however, as the weeks go by, the child grows stronger and bigger, until a time comes when it can well take care of itself; and then it grows and grows in wisdom and stature until, no longer leaning on the mother’s care, the child, now arrived at man’s estate, turns the tables, and repays its debt by taking over the care of its mother. So your ability to contact the mystic Power within yourself, frail and feeble at first, will gradually develop until you find yourself permitting that Power to take your whole life into its care.

Enjoy!

Terrie

The post Power Through Constructive Thinking first appeared on Getting Unstuck, LLC.