The mind is a powerful tool. Many (if not most) people live their entire lives never truly realizing its full potential. Ponder for a moment, the mind has the ability to think, dream, predict, forget, and even manifest. When people talk about the subconscious, what they are really referring to is the part of the mind that has been “flashy thingyed” by society– the part we were programmed not to recognize. Men in Black does a great job of depicting this phenomenon (click on above link for details)! But, by design, we are able to overcome this setback if we are willing to put in the work. It takes time, although the reward of awareness far outweighs the challenge it takes to get there.
Consider this scenario for a moment:
You awake from a long, unscheduled nap, and you know you have to make it to the dining hall to eat lunch before it closes. You rush around, but the entire time you are doubting your ability to get there in time to eat, check your e-mail, and return before your campers come back from their afternoon activities. You keep telling yourself not to forget your meal ticket before you leave your room, so you make sure you take it out of your wallet (which you are not bringing with you). You are also unsure of what to wear because you know the forecast is calling for mild weather, but you are almost certain it will be warm outside. You grab your laptop bag, and head out the door. As you are locking the door, you double-check your laptop bag and realize you don’t have your meal ticket! You left it on the dresser next to your wallet. You run in, pick up the ticket and stick it in your pocket. You briefly think to yourself, “what if it fell out of my pocket on my way to the dining hall? That would suck!” This thought makes you laugh because you think it’s highly unlikely. You get outside and a few things pop into your mind: you aren’t dressed appropriately because you threw on a long sleeve shirt even though you expected it to be warm, you want to walk fast so you have time to eat and check e-mail but rushing will cause you to sweat, and you better not drop the meal ticket. You finally get to the dining hall and as you reach into your back pocket, panic starts to sink in. Where the heck is the meal ticket?!
Now honestly ask yourself what you would do or think in this situation? For me, this was one of the many events that actually happened to me today! But there is a lesson in this, and that’s that our minds have the power to manifest. I had been thinking about all these negative scenarios, and I doubted my own ability to make things happen peacefully. Furthermore, I didn’t actually listen to myself long enough to change somethings around, like put the meal ticket in a safe place (i.e. in my bag), or put on a cooler shirt. But the difference between myself and the average person is, the whole time I was aware that these negative events would happen.
The first issue is that I was rushing. What I have learned through experiences in my life is that rushing is futile. You are exactly where you are supposed to be at any given time. Rushing expends unnecessary energy, makes you do things sloppily, and may even cause you to arrive at your destination before your favor, blessing, or fortune!
The second issue is doubt. When you doubt yourself, you actually welcome negativity or opposition. The best thing to do is to trust your instincts. If it doesn’t feel right, leave it be. But if you feel like you will forget something, you most certainly will so do yourself a favor and write it down, or act immediately. Had I just changed my shirt or put the meal ticket in a safer place, I could have avoided the confusion all together.
The last issue is this: Think, speak, and act positively. Giving yourself room for negative thoughts creates negative outcomes. It’s true it can be difficult to be positive all the time, but if you have a negative thought, finish it, and then replace it with something positive. This may require you to actually tell yourself enough. And then forgive yourself, and move on from it. When we harp on our issues is when they consume us and over-extend their welcome.
Because I am aware the power that my mind has, I was able to pause for a moment, think clearly, laugh at myself for my own carelessness, and retrace my steps (not far at all), back to my meal ticket which was lying neatly on the ground awaiting my return. It was as if the ticket, the Universe, and myself all shared a moment that no one else noticed. Had I not known the power of my mind, I may not have retraced my steps successfully finding the ticket, and I would have been angry at how careless I was and allowed it to takeover my mood, the whole time sweating unnecessary buckets, and still hungry.
This is a super simple scenario (and true could have been avoided altogether, but I’m happy to share), but I guarantee it can be applied to all of life’s situation. We are often the culprit for confusion, not because we are unfortunate people, or deserve chaos in our lives, but because we fail to recognize that we do have a say in how we react, and how we welcome the flow of energy into our lives. It is unwise to assume that you have no control over what happens to you. And while the Universe has the last say, we can use our minds to give a gentle push in the direction we hope to go.
My mom always taught us as kids, think good things, good things happen. Think bad things, bad things happen.