So I have noticed that sometimes old thought habits can creep up over me, and unpleasant thoughts of fear or worry can suddenly seem to take charge. I am interested in getting some insight on this.
How can I change old reactions that caused me to worry, and stay in charge of my head at all times, focusing on the positive instead of the negative? How to re-train my brain?
Chris, certainly this can be a tricky thing. It is usually not easy, or instantaneous, to shift the brain from old ways of thinking that are fear-based to an “empowered” mindset based in possibility, creativity, and joy. This is because those old habits can become so routine that they just seem like “the way things are.” At that point, one usually forgets that there is a choice in the matter.
Yet you are always at choice about how you see things. You always have access to a new point of view. You don’t have to be stuck focusing on the negative, or worrying. It starts with awareness. Once you start catching yourself when you notice that worry, you can choose to re-focus, and shift your attention to something more pleasing.
Yes, I just noticed this a few minutes ago while I was teaching. I caught my head starting to spin, and this familiar uneasy feeling, a mixture of discomfort and fear, started to descend upon me. But I had this recently written this thought down on my paper, and it helped remind me:
How can I always feel great in this area?
Release attachment, self judgement, and any other heavy energies.
This helped me refocus. I saw that I was at choice, and I really took on the idea of releasing attachment. And a cool thing happened: I felt the negative thought lose its grip. It’s like I detached the parasite before it got a hold of me. It’s a yucky image, but a pleasing result.
That is quite an apt comparison for what can happen. The “parasite” of negativity can suck on you, without your knowing it, and like an unwelcome house guest, live “rent-free” on you. Very often, these energies will end up doing that precisely because a person does not consciously realize what is happening. Vary often this results from an unconscious thought the person has which supports the appearance of the parasite. Such a thought may be:
I am unworthy.
I do not deserve to be happy.
I am not loved.
Thoughts of this nature can easily lead a person to attract more parasitical thoughts and habitual ways of thinking that do not feel good.
Yes, that all makes a lot of sense. I really get that. I am pleased to see myself turning this around. By being present, I am catching the mechanism before it takes hold. This morning, I woke up with some weird stuff in my mind. But while I was on my jog, I thought it all through, and in that process, I shifted my mood.
I am at work on completely shifting my mindset in some areas. It is becoming so obvious to me that I don’t need to keep a negative mindset. Also, so many areas of my life work really well, and when I look at my own attitude in those areas, it is very positive! (See Day 98: It’s All About Attitude and Day 112: It’s All About Attitude (Part 2))
That is wonderful. Like anything in life, when your intention changes, your result change. You have seen many other results shift, such as when you began taking on your money management a few years ago. Your mind is not a static thing. You are not forced to repeat the same negative thought patterns forever! You can change! It just takes a shift of intention, a new desire to have positive thinking, and transform an area where the thinking has not been working. Just like cleaning a neglected area of your house, you can “clean” up your thinking and experience transformation and joy 🙂