Did you know… you have between 50,000 and 70,000 thoughts per day… fascinating isn’t it?

It’s also a phenomenal number of thoughts to be having; however, our minds are so clever that they ‘filter’ these thoughts so that only the important ones are actually retained by us. This is known as DDG in NLP: Deleting, distorting and generalising.

Why does our amazing mind do that?

Well simply because we really couldn’t handle processing so many thoughts in a day! (A bit like emails when you get back from holiday), we’d all be a bit frazzled and have hair that looks like the scientist from the movie Back to The Future (a complete generalisation on my part…did you notice?) I learnt a great deal about thoughts and how our minds work when I trained to become an NLP practitioner. I also experimented a great deal to see if the principles I had learned really worked…as with everything, if you want to get good at the things you learn…you need to keep practicing! The thoughts which make it through the filtering system are the ones that I want to talk about today…are you checking out your thoughts and the stance they take? You will have a mixture of negative, positive and inquisitive thoughts.

We do have a choice about the thoughts we choose to entertain and how they shape our day…even our lives.

In the words of Eckhart Tolle:

“The primary cause of unhappiness is never the situation, but the thoughts about it. Be aware of the thoughts you are thinking”

In sad, difficult circumstances or when we have had the worst news …someone will always say the words “stay positive” or “think positively”. This can be rather annoying at times and I know a friend of mine who gets totally F****d off when she hears that ….yes she has no problems making that known either!! All very entertaining if you are not the receiver of her view on that phrase!!!

However…positive thinking does work and there is now SCIENTIFIC proof of this…TA DAH!!!

I believe that how we use our mind and the thoughts we have, is powerful enough to change the course of our lives…I honestly believe that and I test this on an ongoing basis. You can imagine my excitement when I heard that there as in fact scientific proof of positive words and thoughts…at that point I probably did look a little like the scientist from Back to The Future…and believe me, with my hair…it’s not a sight you want to see.

So here’s the link to the scientific stuff: http://www.spiritscienceandmetaphysics.com/scientific-proof-thoughts-and-intentions-can-alter-the-world-around-us/

If you are having a negative thought or you get up and think: “arrghhh…another day that looks like it’s going to be challenging!!!” the chances are it will be…we attract negative energy because your mind thinks that’s what you want (very clever!) and so that’s what you get (even cleverer!).Another thing I learnt about the mind is that it has many mechanisms in place to protect us, it acts as our guardian, a perfect example is when you injure yourself , you don’t feel the pain for a while…this is known as going into shock…that’s your mind protecting you. We go through life Deleting, Distorting and generalising our own experiences and observations. What you delete, distort and generalise is influenced by what you have previously experienced in as a child and the values and beliefs that have been instilled in you from childhood…pretty complex stuff to keep up with but our minds are amazing!!

So my point?

Change your thoughts…that’s my point…why not try this today:

If you have a negative thought, STOP!! Now look at it from a positive angle…make it a positive thought, keep doing that on a regular basis until it becomes second nature and notice things around you change…from the way others respond to you to the way your day goes in general.

One of my own experiments when I was training as an NLP practitioner was to observe myself for a week. I noticed on the days where I got up and didn’t feel 100%...this was reflected in my thoughts and in the way I carried myself…on those days people’s responses towards me were either very cold or sometimes downright rude! Simple tasks became a challenge for me and the whole day was just a downward spiral because that’s what I told my mind…through my thought.

Normally I’m quite a happy person and I find that this energy attracts positive things, people will talk to me, smile, and the day goes by swimmingly with some really nice experiences. So now when I wake up not feeling 100% (and this is only human, so allow it); I make sure I consciously change my state by thinking positive thoughts and carrying myself to reflect that positivity….and you know  what? I feel better and I get positive responses from other. Oh and you know all this affirmation malarkey that everyone goes on about?

Well… it really works for all the reasons I just gave you.

Now don’t go crazy smiling at every one that walks past you....be yourself,  your best, most relaxed, in the ‘happy zone’ self and watch the magic happen…that’s right I’m a believer in magic…open your mind don’t reign it in just because that’s what’s expected of you…go forth and do your own experiments to prove this claim. Now off you go and think happy, confident, motivating thoughts!

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