Often, we attribute our level of happiness or unhappiness in life to things outside of our control – our job, our kids, our spouse, our home, our health. We so often think that it is our circumstances that create our lives and that most are out of our control.
We think specific thoughts for so long or with so much emotion and belief behind them that we accept them as “real.” For example:
My job is hard. I have to take care of my children. I was devastated when she died. Work stresses me out.
I don’t have enough time.
None of the above are facts. They are all thoughts.
These are the facts:
I have a job. I have children. She died. I work doing calculations for NASA. (Just giving an example – not a personal one.) I have my day scheduled from 6 am to 10 pm.
The original list includes only thoughts. We think thousands of thoughts each day, and we believe so many of them, but every thought is optional. Once we are aware of a thought, we can choose to change it.
When we change our thoughts, we change our lives.
You could choose to think:
My job is amazing. I am so glad I get to take care of my children. I was devastated when she died because I loved her so much, and I want to mourn her passing. Challenging work is better than tedious work. I have time to do what I need to do.
What if you genuinely believed those new thoughts? Would you approach your life differently? Would you feel new emotions in those areas of your life? Would your life change as you showed up with different thoughts and feelings?
It absolutely would.
And it all starts with changing a thought.