Our minds are incredibly powerful things, and our experience of and in life exists mostly there. We tend to just take for granted that whatever is going on in our thoughts is true, but is it really? I’ve posted a few of my favourite quotes on the power of our minds recently, and want to share them again here:
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used to create them.” ~ Albert Einstein
“The problem is not the problem. The problem is your attitude about the problem.” ~ Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean
“Doubt kills more dreams than failure ever will.” ~ Suzy Kassem
What these sentiments and so many others point to is the fact that our thoughts are either our greatest allies or our worst enemies, and the difference is first in awareness, and then in choice. At any given moment, we can use mindfulness to stop and tune into what’s going on in our minds – are our thoughts serving us or harming us? Are they contributing to something good or perpetuating negativity? If we don’t like what we find going on in our minds at any given time, we can change it, even if it initially feels forced. Put in the simplest way I can think of:
If the thought of your mother-in-law makes you mad, stop thinking about her.
And replace the thought with something that serves you better.