Have you ever felt less than great about yourself or how your day is going? We have all had those days when we feel a bit down or low, which is different from feeling meh. We feel less than great about ourselves. Maybe there is a lull in our movement. It feels like a drag to get through our day. But the thing is, we never pause to ask ourselves why we are feeling this way.
It turns out we can trace our feelings back to our thoughts. Here’s how it works: our thoughts determine our feelings/moods. Our feelings develop our attitude towards a situation, which informs our actions/behavior. Our actions define our habits, which lead to the formation of our character, which in turn, informs our destiny. In short, we choose our destiny with our thoughts.
For instance, we cannot change our feelings alone as they are a result of our thoughts. What we feel is not dependent on the world outside. How we are feeling is what creates our world outside. We don’t have to rely on our feelings. We can master the ability to create the right thought every time, but more on this below.
Our life is a manifestation of our thoughts. Our thoughts are more powerful than our words or actions. For instance, our thoughts create our relationships more than our words or actions. So we can use our thoughts to heal our mind, and by extension, our relationships. We can use our thoughts to manifest whatever we want in all areas of our lives. We are writing our destiny every minute with our thoughts. Karma comes into play here too. We usually think of karma as action (something we do), but karma starts with our thoughts. In other words, our present karmas determine our destiny.
Thought is energy that vibrates. When we use low-vibration thoughts and words driven by our doubts, fears, worries, anxieties, and insecurities — which are all part of negative thinking — we deplete our soul power and send negative energy to others. For instance, think negatively about someone in your life for a few days and you’ll start seeing the adverse effects in that relationship. Similarly, when we create high-vibration thoughts, our life will start becoming like that or manifesting in that way.
Situations shouldn’t influence our state of mind, but rather our state of mind should influence our situations. Our thoughts affect our state of mind, which influences our body (not vice-versa). Mind over matter. Every thought we create will influence us before it reaches others. It will affect how we feel and then it will radiate to our body in a positive/negative way depending on the quality of the thought.
There are mainly three kinds of thoughts that we have on a daily basis:
- positive thoughts: pure, selfless, right thoughts including love, compassion, mercy, cooperation, trust, and respect
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negative thoughts: fear-based thoughts that include ego, anger, resentment, hatred, criticism, rejection, etc. which are mostly concerned with our past
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wasteful thoughts: thoughts that have no use, but we are thinking nonetheless, overthinking about the past or concern about the future — neither of which is in our control
We can use the power of thought to choose our destiny rather than letting our current reality determine our thoughts. Here are some ways to do that.
Just as we are careful with the words we choose to use, we need to be super-mindful as to what we think about. We need to think about ONLY what we want/wish to happen without getting affected by our past. This is easier said than done, as it’s normal to be reminded of our past situations. But, we need to remove our negative thinking (about past events/situations) and replace it with positive healing energy. We do that by creating a shift from low to high vibrations by changing our way of thinking. For instance, we can change our habits from anger to patience; criticism to acceptance, praise, appreciation; feeling hurt to remaining stable, forgiving, and letting go.
It’s easier to replace our line of thinking than to stop it cold turkey. For instance, we can replace our fear with faith; so rather than saying to ourselves, “Don’t be afraid”, we can say, “Have faith, things will work out”. In the latter state, we will be calm, relaxed, and peaceful. We can always charge our mind and keep it stable by feeding it love, acceptance, happiness, and respect.
But, when we create fear ourselves, we doubt ourselves and we create doubt in others as well. The only way fear can go is when it’s replaced by faith, because then we are creating the right thought for the other person every day, provided we create no competing thought.
We can say to ourselves:
“I will not create a thought of what this situation is. I will create a thought of what I wish and want this situation to be. The thought I create will radiate and manifest. I will think and say only what I want my destiny to be.”
Here’s a caveat on the negative thoughts. We need to destroy negative thoughts when they first surface; it’s when they are at their weakest. We need to be aware of the thoughts created inside at all times while doing everything that we are doing outside. We should be able to see the first signs of irritation, anger, hurt, jealousy, worry, as and when it happens. If we don’t tackle these on their appearance they will manifest and grow, and ultimately, will become out of control.
Everything is am imprint on the soul, so all we have to do is change the imprint by recording something new, otherwise we are listening to the same track every time, and by doing so, our destiny remains the same every time; it’s only when we record a new track, our destiny will change.
Thoughts of the wrong quality radiate to the body and create a disease. They radiate to other people and create conflict in relationships. We only realize it when we see the manifestation as a disease or conflict. But, we need to see it in its conception stage in the mind. That’s when it’s at its weakest and it’s when we have the most power over it. This is also how we conquer our vices before they become vices.
For the past few days, I’ve found myself saying, “Cut it out” when I first come across a negative thought, which I then replace with a positive thought. Because, if we wait for a few minutes and keep thinking that negative thought, it will become part of the vibration and we will radiate that, and then it will likely manifest itself.
The thing is we are so used to thinking all the time that we don’t pay attention to the quality of our thoughts enough. We should aim to have fewer but better (conscious) thoughts. How do we make it more conscious? It’s like driving. At first, you’ll find yourself through the day checking your every thought. But over time, you’ll find it becomes a part of you and you’re auto-checking every thought on your own without spending energy on it.
We can check in with ourselves every day to be mindful of our thinking to ensure we are operating out of love. For instance, we can remind ourselves every minute in an hour, “I am a powerful soul. Everything I create in my mind is my choice.”. We can say to ourselves, “I am the creator of my every thought, emotion, and feeling”. We have the power to choose the perfect thought inside when the situation outside is less than perfect. It’s the only way we can influence our situation.
Remember, the way we see people is the way we think of them. The way we think of them is how we treat them with our thoughts and behaviors. The way we treat them is who they become. For instance, if we see our partner as difficult to be with and think they can never change, we treat them as such. They will receive the energy of being difficult from our thoughts and behaviors because that is how we treated them. The vibrations they receive from us will shift them towards becoming that way.
Conversely, the opposite is also true. We want to think more about what we want our relationship to be and less about what we don’t want it to be. We can choose to send positive thoughts to our partners during challenging times in our relationship and see it blossom over time. I’m reminded of a quote by Goethe:
Treat people as if they were what they ought to be and you help them to become what they are capable of being.
The law of energy states whatever we think will manifest. When we focus on our thoughts and vibrations, we can influence others positively. In order to do that, we need to keep our state of mind high at all times by having positive, pure, and powerful thoughts. When we do so, we influence others by sending them these high-vibration thoughts. Our thoughts have to be consistent with our words and actions (and vice-versa) or it won’t work. When done right, this will start affecting their thought patterns over time and will help them overcome their own fears or insecurities. This requires us to keep our mind stable and detached, so we can continue to love them unconditionally by way of radiating right thoughts to them through our love, blessings, and respect. This reminds me of what MLK Jr. once said:
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
Remember, it only takes one thought and decision to create a shift in our perspective to move forward.
One of the sources of our thoughts is what we consume every day — read, watch, listen. For instance, what we read influences our thoughts. We can pick and choose what we decide to read, whether we read a fact-based article or an emotionally charged one. Rather than waking up to world news in the morning, we would be better off using that time in solitude for daily spiritual renewal. Even better would be to skip watching the news altogether and maybe get it from our friends/family. That way we get the facts without the emotion involved. This would require our friends to be objective in sharing that news with us. We can selectively listen to podcasts that are informative and fun.
Another source of our thoughts is the people we talk to and the company we keep. They have more influence on us than anyone else. So, we must be super intentional when it comes to who we spend time with. The last thing we want is to have others project on us their intentions and limiting beliefs, which inadvertently limits our growth.
Our world is created by our thoughts. We can either let situations drive our (fear-based) thoughts OR we can use the (right) thoughts to manifest the situations we want to happen. When we focus on the right karma, we don’t have to worry about the future.
Every time we create a thought, it has an effect on our mind, our body, how we feel, to the other person (if there are any involved), and to the world at large.
Our thoughts inform our destiny. If we want to create/change our destiny, we need to have the right thoughts. No one else can create/change our destiny except us. Our karma writes our destiny. Our thoughts become our reality. We are the creator of our destiny through our thoughts. With that empowerment comes complete responsibility.
Remember, if something is not worth saying, it’s not worth thinking. We cannot afford to create a wrong thought for anyone (even in our dreams). We have the power to choose the right thought in every situation. When we start using this power, we’ll choose to be stable and happy, always.
P.S. This draft is based on my learning from the teachings at Brahma Kumaris; a spiritual organization that teaches us how to be a better human and inspire others through our actions, so that together, we can create a beautiful world.
