If
you have been practicing what you have learnt in this series of
articles you will have discovered a world of thoughts. Your very
own unique, internal world.
You
may like or dislike these these thoughts, either way you have
complete control. You can control the thoughts that enter your
mind by changing the way you view the world. You can decide which
thoughts you give energy to and which thoughts you discard. You
do not have to follow every line of thought.
The
thoughts that you follow and give energy to become more dominant
than the thoughts you discard. Your subconscious mind records
these as your dominant picture on the issue at hand. You
move towards your dominant picture because your creative subconscious
is tasked with making your outside world fit the picture that
you have stored internally. This
is a very powerful way of changing your reality, if your mind
is on the appropriate subject.
Your
mind should be on whatever you want. This does not mean that you
should spend all day thinking about your goals. What it means
is that when it is appropriate to think of a subject the picture
you evoke is of a certain kind.
The
picture you need to have is a positive vision. A picture of you
already having achieved your goal.
To
realise this vision or make your dominant picture as you want
it, you need to focus and concentrate. Remember thoughts are real,
tangible sources of energy.
Concentration
means intense mental application, complete attention. You may
find this can be difficult if you have not practiced this before.
Lets
use a simple example. You want to achieve a goal of buying a new
car. You need to imagine yourself already in possession of the
car. You need to picture yourself driving it and owning it.
Whilst
this is going on be aware of the thoughts that occur in your mind.
Alongside your positive thoughts in regard to your goal you have
other negative thoughts that are not in line with what you want.
Do
you think that the car will be too expensive?
Do
you believe you are wasting money?
Are
you thinking, "how will I afford this"?
Are you thinking...we can go on and on.
These
thoughts that are not aligned with your goal. You are not giving
complete attention to what you want. Whilst you are dealing with
these other lines of thought your attention is not on your goal.
If
you are aware of your thoughts you will suddenly realise that
you have spent much more energy on counter productive thoughts
than on creating a dominant picture of the goal you want. Of the
50 000 thoughts per day how many of them are in line with what
you want?
You
will be familiar with the well known cliché in regard to
a glass of water. The water level is at the half way mark.
"Is
the glass half full or half empty?"
Think
about it for a minute. What this actually shows you is that there
are two distinct and very different ways of thinking.
1.
You can look at the glass and conclude that it is half full.
2.
You can look at the glass and conclude that it is half empty.
How
you answer this question depends on two things.
1.
Your goal or what you deem as valuable. A full glass or an empty
glass.
2.
Your attitude, which is the way you lean towards something. Do
you think something has been taken away from your goal or you
have gained something?
You
will probably feel that something in the glass is of value. If
this is the case then how
will you answer the question; is the glass half full or half empty?
The glass being half full is a positive way of looking. The glass
being half empty is the negative perspective.The answer to this
question will show you, how you focus.
Focus
means the point to which your concentration is aimed at. In other
words to focus and concentrate means you need to apply energy
and attention to what you want. What you want must be the point
of your focus.
This
can be applied to all area's of your life. There are two sides
to everything this is the concept of duality. Without this concept
nothing would exist. Opposites cause contrast. It is this contrast
that defines everything that exists. Without light you could not
have darkness, without there being an up there is no concept of
down. There will always be a positive and negative way of looking
at everything.
You
can make your focal point stronger by performing a ritual. A ritual
is a ceremony that helps focus your attention on what you want.
Witch's and Wizard's do this using symbols that help them link
to their subconscious mind, unlocking it's power. This is called
magic.
In
the modern world it is enough for you to perform the ritual of
visiting the car dealer. Sit in the car of your choice and make
the picture in your mind much more vivid.
Every
time you worry you are helping to reinforce the negative picture
in your subconscious mind. You are focused on the glass being
half empty.
This
happens for two reasons,
1.
because you have not exercised your faculty of concentration.
Practicing
concentration can be as simple as staring at an object and keeping
your thoughts from wandering. You might find that this is only
possible for a matter of seconds before you mind moves from it's
focal point. You need to practice.
2.
You have not practice looking from the alternative, positive perspective.
Practicing
your positive perspective is a matter of becoming aware of what
your mind is thinking. In other words, as we have discussed, watching
your thoughts.
You
may have thoughts that you don't want. Smoking is an example of
this. Your thought would be "I need a cigarette" the
most common way to deal with this is to fight the thought. "No
I don't want a cigarette." By fighting the thought you are
giving it power because you can only fight something by giving
it attention.
Fighting
the thought is similar to worry. You are actually just reinforcing
the behavior by giving it attention.You will have more success
trying the following;
1.
Be aware of the thought that enters your mind.
2.
Accept that this is only a thought that has entered your mind.
It has as much power as you give it.
3.
Realise that you have a choice. You can act on the thought, give
it more attention or you can change what you think.
In
the case of smoking you need to constantly apply the affirmation
"I am healthy"
Do
not use a negative such as "I do not smoke."
Without
concentration and focus, you are at the mercy of your environment.
Whatever happens around you will distract you from what you want.
Sometimes we go along with these distraction because it is easier.
You need to sharpen your vision of what you want.
Common
distractions that prevent you from focusing on what you want are
your work, television cleaning and social activity. This doesn't
mean you should stop these activities. Simply look at how much
time you devote to each.
Can
you sit quietly with your thoughts?
Do
you make time for this?
If
the answer is no, you need to examine the distractions in your
life.
There
is no need to run from yourself. It is with internal contemplation
that you will improve your life. You have the power. You can do
anything you wish to do. All it takes is will. Will is developed
by concentration and focus. Distractions are what keep you from
realising your potential.
