True Destiny; If Life is a Journey, Why go it alone?

It's a sunny, yet windy day here in Maine, but we are one day closer to spring, and that is something to be thankful for. I was at a workshop over the weekend and learned something very very important. It's not that I hadn't thought about it before, but for the first time I really came to an understanding of the material presented, and it came at a very opportune time in my life. There are many times in our life when we let circumstances dictate our actions and thoughts. Problem is, is that many times our thoughts are of a negative nature and those thoughts now create feelings which lead to actions and those actions bring results. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize that negative actions will produce negative results. Take it one step further and you have to come to the conclusion that negative feelings and thoughts also lend themselves to negative results. We all go through trying times and those times will almost always take us to the point of thinking in a negative fashion. Now try as we might you can not expect to have a positive result when your actions are born from negative thoughts. Now to many this may seem like kindergarten math. We all know that two plus two equals four. It is fundamental, but how often have we put together that negative begets negative, and positive begets positive. I often am reminded of the childhood story of Winnie the Pooh. If things could go wrong for Pooh they did go wrong. More often than not it was a self fulfilling prophesy. Pooh's friend the donkey who would forever be walking around feeling down and in the dumps. Oh the weather was blustery, this was wrong and that was wrong and life was nothing more than misery day after day after day. Ever get the feeling that we walk around like this more often then we would like to admit.

I had a boss once who liked to say "it is time to take a check up from the neck up". Now this used to irritate me to no end. There was nothing wrong with my thought process. I was simply reacting to the other outside forces operating in the universe. I finally had to come to the conclusion that he was right and I let things get to me in a negative fashion thereby creating negative thoughts and once again thoughts lead to actions and actions to results. Don't you just hate it when someone is right and you want them to be wrong? Anyhow, this whole process was beginning to make me think about some of the thoughts that have been going through my mind as of late, having gone through a very trying time recently and now looking back on my actions. I am big enough a man to admit when I am wrong, and let me tell you I have been wrong so many ways as of late. Let me say this; having a negative thought is not wrong so to speak. We all have them from time to time. Often we have more negative thoughts then positive ones but that is human nature I guess. The problem arises when we allow those negatives to dictate feelings and actions. You can hold captive your thoughts. Just because you have them does not mean they have to control you. It's like getting up on a cold snowy winter day here in Maine, you know it is cold out, snow is butt high to a Giraffe, and you have to go out in this mess. The thoughts of cold, wet, balmy conditions drives you nuts, but then you come to the conclusion that I just have to bundle up and things will be fine. I have all the winter clothing I need, my car will be warm and heck there are bragging rights to having survived a New England Winter. We make them tough up here in the North and if we can make it here we can make it anywhere. But putting a different face on a situation can make all the difference in the world. Now going out in the cold and snow seems almost like an adventure that we will be able to pass on down to future generations.

Now I am sure that there are those who feel I have flown off the chicken coop with all this stuff about positive thoughts, feelings, and actions. But before you throw the baby out with the bath water why not give it a try. Let's face it, if all else fails try something new. If what you have been doing hasn't worked, why in the world do you continue to do it? Will bad things still happen in people's lives, of course they will. This is reality and in reality bad things do happen to good people. Hey we all know that good things happen to bad people too, we can't explain it, but it is a fact of life. But putting a positive spin on most things will have a huge difference in how you react to situations, and how you react will often dictate what type of action you take and the action you take will always bring around a result. What that result will be is entirely up to the nature of your action, either positive or negative.

So do me a favor. Think about the thoughts that plaque you on a daily basis. Think about the actions you take and the results of those actions. Ask yourself this one question: can it really hurt to change the way I look at things? If you put a positive spin on those things you encounter can it be any worse than it is right now? I think you will find that staying positive, as difficult as it may be at times, is one option that just might change the course of your life. Think about it.......