Confessions of a negative thinker

Do you know someone who is always cheerful and happy, and seems to always have a positive attitude?

Don't you just hate them?

That's my first confession. I don't necessarily trust people who are happy all the time. And they irritate me sometimes, too. I can even hear their collective voice now: It's just that sort of thinking that causes all the problems in your life, Julie.

For years, I have been in a battle of wits with myself. From the moment I get up in the morning I am aware of my thoughts. At least I try to be. And to be honest with you, they are often not that much fun to watch. Like unruly children they go where they want, despite my objections. Like rude neighbors who start up the lawnmower at eight o'clock on a Sunday morning, they barge in and violate my peace of mind.

It is finally dawning on me that perhaps this is not something I will ever actually conquer. My mind is like a wild animal that may behave when properly conditioned to do so, but that always has a beast in its breast.

The mind is made for thinking, and so much of what we think is actually the outgrowth of impressions we don't see and memories we can't recall. Things we've buried in our subconscious, conclusions we've drawn from our culture that we never even agreed to, beliefs, preferences, prejudices - these are all there in our minds slinking stealthily into our conscious thought.

People who preach positive thinking as the only way to experience a life of success, peace, and happiness are hawking delusion. There is little of what my mind does that I actually have control over. I don't think to my heart, Beat, now beat again, now beat again. I don't think to my lungs, Expand and take air in...OK, now push it all out again.

My mind is designed to operate separately from my conscious thought. I could not survive otherwise.
In business, there are generally two groups of people -  those who strategize and those who execute. The mind executes everything. It churns out ideas and memories indiscriminately because that is its job. It shows up for work every day, punches in and does what it is told to do: think. The mind does not run the  business. It runs the machinery.

It is the Spirit that creates the strategy for life. The Spirit discerns whether an idea is honorable and worth developing. It holds the key to the precious storehouse of human emotion and energy and makes strategic decisions about which thoughts warrant investment.

Both of these are vital to a life that is spiritually sound and that moves forward with purpose. A great strategy is only a concept unless it is manifested through ideas and action. Your strategy for life could be to be compassionate and develop your gifts in order to make the world a better place. That's a great strategy, but in itself it will accomplish nothing.

Likewise, a never-ending flow of ideas, memories, and impressions will have you running in circles unless you provide a framework for which of them will receive life through your energy and conscious thought and which will not. Giving life to all ideas or giving life to none would produce equally disastrous results.

When I wake up in the morning, I don't leap out of bed and rejoice at the glory of a new day - as much as I wish I did, or could. When I get up it's dark and early and I usually grunt a little and then manage a sleepy, "I greet this day with love in my heart," that sounds more like, "Why can't I just go back to sleep?" But slowly, as the day dawns on me, I remember to give thanks for my cup of warm coffee, for my car, my job, my gym, my health, and the people I know and care for in my life. And when I meet with difficulty during the course of my day, I may knit my brow and sigh, but I manage to hold onto the thought that things will work out OK in the end.

The objective is not to subdue your mind; it is to consciously develop a strategy that will guide you to selectively give of yourself to what the mind produces. If a thought or idea doesn't align with the strategy, don't plant it in the soil - let it fall among the thistles and the rocks where it will wither and die.

We're all negative thinkers and we're all positive thinkers. Some of us just have a better developed strategy than others.

No business has ever survived without a strategic plan. If we expect our lives to run without critical thinking, without being aware of our own strategy and then learning to align our mind's activity with that, we will miss out on opportunities for greater growth and a purpose-filled life.

Peace,
Julie