How important is our Mindset?

What’s going on in your mind right now? (Sssh. Type what you’re thinking in the “comments” section below; I won’t tell anyone. Hold on! If some people did that, it would burn up the computer!) Seriously, is your self-talk usually positive, or negative? 

Some lucky people are blessed with a sunny disposition that cannot be pierced by many circumstances. They just cannot be rattled by anything, and they don’t overanalyze anything. Others seem to live in a claustrophobic world of continual self-examination.

That’s me. I take the weight of the world on my shoulders. You may wonder how only one person can be responsible for all of this:

• Somali pirates
• Worldwide religious unrest
• Political corruption
• Every action of my family
• The happiness of every driver besides me
• Fixing my past
• Hollywood arrogance

You may think I exaggerate. Obviously that’s true—to an extent. Although, here are some traumatic events I often imagine might happen. (Believe it, or not, this is only a partial list):

• I’m in an automobile accident.
• My husband suddenly loses his job.
• My house burns down.
• There's a worldwide financial collapse
• People aren’t going to like me.

It all Starts in our Heads.

How can I survive living in such fear? It ain’t easy. It isn’t healthy, either.  However, you can’t tell me I’m the only person who worries too much—far from it. Our mind is a battlefield, as Joyce Meyer and others say.  This means that the root of such negative emotions as confusion, anger, disbelief, and fear begin inside our heads.

It follows that the best way to fight these feelings is to fill our heads with positive, light-filled sentiments.  The optimistic feelings will crowd out the dark ones because light is stronger than darkness, spiritual or physical.

Dodie Osteen

Joel Osteen often tells the uplifting story of his mother’s fight with cancer. Dodie Osteen was diagnosed with terminal cancer about 30 years ago. She was told that she only had a few months to live. Yet, Dodie refused to accept the prognosis. She worked hard to conquer her diagnosis step-by-step.

How did she accomplish this amazing feat? She kept filling her mind with positive, healing thoughts and images. Finally, she overcame cancer. Today, at age 83, she is a healthy, beautiful lady actively participating in her son’s church.

How Important are our Thoughts?

I have always felt that believing is half the battle. That must be why I haven’t won the war…yet. If an individual is upbeat, she is likely to produce positive results in her life. The opposite is true if a person is gloomy. This is where we get such proven ideas as the self-fulfilling prophecy: what we imagine in our hearts about ourselves will come true.

A prime example of this effect is found in my book, Accept No Trash Talk: Overcoming the Odds, I mention the movie, Johnny Lingo. It is the story of a young Hawaiian lady named Mahana. She has been marginalized by her society to the point where she feels absolutely worthless. However, when a successful young man named Johnny Lingo asks her to get married, she starts believing in herself for the first time. She begins to radiate both inner and outer beauty.

My Conclusion

We constantly make the choice of what thoughts we allow into our heads. The default setting for many of us is negative. Only we can turn that around and pour light (positive thoughts) into our psyche. This can often result in a healing of our bodies and our self-image.

Is your brain a holding place for light, or darkness?