What would you say if I told you there was one simple truth you could learn that will literally transform the rest of your life? What if I said you probably already know this on a logical sense, you just haven’t applied it to your life yet?
As many of you know, I’m spending a lot of time living consciously and in the moment, and therefore I get to see the dysfunction behind a lot of problems in life. Through this awareness, I’ve literally been able to live each day very happily and peacefully, while still having the drive to go for my goals.
Before I tell you this simple but life changing realisation, I want you to do a little exercise with me. Don’t worry, it’s nothing physical and it should only take about 20 seconds of your time; and I guarantee you will enjoy it.
Think of a time when you felt really really happy, a time when you couldn’t stop laughing or smiling even if you wanted to. Whether it was when you won something, a friend did something stupid, your child was born or something of that nature. Picture, vividly, a great event in your life that was so full of joy and happiness that it was just an amazing experience.
If you’ve actually done this, you’ll begin to notice that these great feelings from that moment actually spread across to the current moment and make you feel good, right now. I can picture, in great detail, a time when I ‘broke’ into someone else’s car only to realise it wasn’t mine (my key worked) and it makes me feel great because I can still laugh at it.
The event isn’t happening right now, but as I’ve said in the past, it is scientifically proven that our nervous system does not know the difference between an event that is real or one that is vividly imagined.
Because our body can’t tell the difference, it is very easy to feel great right now due to an event that happened in a completely different moment, even one that happened years ago. I personally find that amazing, and through this I came to understand this simple realisation…
My Realisation
I did say this was simple, but you also have to make sure you apply it to your life. Simply knowing about it and moving on will not affect your life at all, and definitely not in a dramatic way.
My realisation is this: only negative thoughts can create negative feelings.
It is said that we have around 65,000 thoughts every day, and many of these thoughts you will be completely unaware of. I’m certainly aware of a large majority these days but only because I’ve spent a lot of time practicing being conscious of them.
Some of the recurring thoughts include:
- I’m going to be too tall
- It’s going to take too long for me to gain a large amount of weight
- I’m never going to make enough money to travel the world
- Some people just have everything and I have to work
Please note that I honestly don’t care about these things, at least not right now. I’m truly grateful for the situation I have in life, my family, my friends the opportunities available to me on this planet. However, I often catch myself (through conscious exercise) thinking negative thoughts, the most repetitive tend to be ones linked to my goals. I wonder if this is why so many people fail to complete theirs?
Now, when I notice I’m feeling low or de-motivated for whatever reason, it’s always after or during negative thought patterns.
There is probably lots of thoughts going through your head as you are reading this post, hopefully the personal nature in my writing is helping you to stick with the words 
.
Real World Examples
If someone close to you passed away, it’s only natural that you feel bad. Right? However, if someone close to me passed away, you might offer me sympathy, but you won’t really feel anything negative regarding the situation. After all, you probably have no idea who the person is or what they were like.
When someone close to us leaves the world (and I have experienced this) we think that we have lost something, we wonder about whether they died peacefully and we worry about how their family is going to cope.
You obviously can’t be happy when someone close to you passes away, and it’s only natural to be sad, but I wanted to make it clear that it is only our thoughts that make us feel this way, nothing else. These thoughts may be conscious but they are more often than not, unconscious (we are not aware of them).
Some other examples of negative thoughts people may have include:
- I’m struggling with my finances and can’t pay my bills this month
- My cat is seriously ill and needs surgery
- I’m only 5″3′ so I could never date a really attractive woman
- I come from a poor family so can never become rich
Some of these are facts, some are opinions. The cat that is seriously ill will need surgery if you want to prolong its life and you may seriously be struggling with your finances. This is the point at which your thinking should stop; no exceptions.
Your cat may need surgery, know this, take action and let whatever happens happen. There is no need to spend the whole time before, during and after the procedure in a state of fear, worry and anxiousness. Just like there is no need to spend each morning worrying about the repossession man coming to your door if you are in a poor financial situation.
If you can take action, take action. If you can’t, leave the issue until you can and completely rid yourself of the negative thoughts.
If good things are coming there will be a pleasant surprise. If bad things are, and you know in advance, you will suffer greatly before they even occur.
Many see the world as a threatening place, and because they do, the world turns out to be a threatening place.
- Maxwell Maltz
I think that is an excellent quote and describes the situation so accurately. We worry, stress and fear situations long before they even occur, and when they do they tend to not be as bad as we envisioned.
Applying this to Your Life
Know this: there is no way to have negative feelings unless you are thinking negative thoughts. You can have physical pain, but I’m talking of feelings like worry, fear, anger or guilt that build up inside you. And, unless you really enjoy these negative thoughts, you can change them at any time to something positive, or even cut them out altogether through the likes of meditation.
There are two things I recommend you try to really help this message sink in, and start to radically improve your life:
- Observe your thoughts – at random points throughout a day, try to notice what thoughts are in your head. As Tolle would say, try and catch them like a cat waiting for a mouse to come out of a hole.
- Use your feelings as a guide – if you are feeling down for whatever reason then try to work out which thoughts have created this feeling, or simply recognise that thoughts have created this feeling. Even boredom is only boredom because we think the situation isn’t entertaining and our mind wants something else to cling onto.
Practice these, and let me know how this works for you. Honestly, since I started applying this about a week ago I’ve became immensely happier in my day to day life, simply through realising the exact thing that stops me from feeling peaceful or happy.
Very good post!
And it works, too. I’ve been doing something similar for the past month or so, and it’s the best month I’ve ever had. Granted, I’m currently in somewhat of a slump, but it’s nothing I can’t tackle.
Keep up the good work!
Thanks a lot Mel, I’m really glad that this has been working out for you!
Nice post Glen! This is LOA in a nutshell. Thank you for sharing.
We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think. When the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow that never leaves. – Buddha
Thanks for sharing that quote Raymond, I love the teachings of ‘the awakened one’
Do you really think it is similar to LoA? I was under the impression it is much more about intentions, rather than monitoring your thoughts?
i don`t remember where i read this quote, but it relates to this post (which is great btw)
¨If you think you can, or if you think you can`t, either way you`re right.¨
Yep, it’s by Henry Ford (maker of Ford cars) – great quote and thanks for commenting Rose!
This is GREAT, I truly wish everybody knew this.
It would change the world dramatically, if everybody knew how to transform a negative state of mind to a positive. Imagine all the bad actions there would be replaced with positive…
Great article…
Exactly Nicolai, inspiring others and helping them ‘awaken’ is the main reason I started this site!
Thanks a lot for your comment
It is all in your head… Just take a look at the Placebo effect and studies… This is a nice obvious analysis that no one really takes advantage of.
Hey Alan,
What are you referring to as a placebo effect? Being happier after noticing negative emotions? If so that is not placebo, just awareness showing that the negativity is only a thought and completely unnecessary.
Glen, well put. Your brain is entirely capable of producing biochemical changes in your body as a result of conscious thought. It logically follows that you should work to reduce and minimize negative thought patterns. Of course it’s easier said than done, but it’s a worthwhile area of improvement.
For an interesting perspective on this topic, check out the work of Dr. Robert Sapolsky. His research focuses on the physiological effects of stress, which is often a result of negative thought. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Sapolsky for more.
Hey Mike, thanks for taking the time to comment.
I’m really fascinated by this kind of thing if you can’t tell (haha) so I’ll definitely check out more of Robert’s work.
Thanks again – Glen
Glen, thank you for this. I’m going to try it out. I need it bad. I bought a book yesterday called “Positivity” about the relatively young field in psychology. I have been very negative most of my life even though I’m a pretty negative person. I can only imagine what I can achieve if I can turn that around. I have been working on it lately and I can already tell a big difference in the way I feel. If your trick works, it’s going to be grrrrrrrrraaaaaaaaaaaaate!
I meant to say “I have been very negative most of my life even though I’ve been moderately successful”.
What I said made no sense. LOL
Hey Stephen,
First of all, you are not a very negative person, you may just have a lot of negative tendencies. Try to master being aware of your thoughts at random points throughout the day, even when you are washing the dishes, making some food or the head chatter when you are talking to someone.
Very cool post Glenn, an interesting realization and some great tools for becoming a positive person.
I found the part about losing a loved one very interesting. Do you think we should truly eliminate all negative thoughts, or merely minimize them? I know there’s some speculation out there that it’s unhealthy to not go through the grieving process.
-Matt
I don’t think we should try to ‘battle’ against them, but I think we should try out best to be aware of them, especially when they arise. The notice that they are not apart of you, but they will be causing negative feelings if you let them hang around. Noticing them is usually enough for them to dissolve.
I’m not sure what an unconscious thought it is, but it’s a little difficult to deal with the thousands of conscious ones, let alone the sneaky ones.
I think I’ve found that if I try and “stop” a negative feeling or “argue” with it, I can actually prolong it and ruminate on it like it’s a puzzle I need to solve.
Sometimes it’s best to welcome the negative feelings – with open arms if you like – and then let it go. Say hi, give it a smile, and then feel yourself letting go of the emotion.
Hey Craig,
An unconscious thought is basically a thought that you had, but you weren’t aware of. I’m sure quite a bit was running around your mind while writing this comment but you couldn’t name them all.
This isn’t so much about ‘stopping’ them through resistance or force, it’s more about bringing your awareness onto them so that they disappear themselves. Your awarness is what shows you these negative thoughts are nothing more than that…thoughts.
Thanks for your comment!
Hi Glen, great article here and I could not agree more.
Most people doesn’t realize that they are having negative thought, unless if they are consciously checking their thought. The more we train to use our positive mental attitude the sooner we realize when we’re having negative thoughts.
Thanks for sharing Glen.
I have been thinking this for some time too, and becoming more and more aware daily of how thoughts influence your behavior. Every person has a thought center, a physical center, and a spiritual center. That’s why you need to ‘teach’ yourself how to use your body when you are first born, because YOU and YOUR BODY are separate things, although they are separate things! To understand the difference between the THOUGHT CENTERS and YOU, you know the phrase “i kept telling myself that things would be okay”… what you are doing is aligning YOURSELF with the correct THOUGHT CENTERS… therefore increasing your vibrations to orient yourself correctly in the universe. If you have questions, please ask, I would LOVE TO HELP YOU
Hey Brendan,
Interesting viewpoint, I haven’t heard it put like this before. Feel free to share a link on more information regarding your message
http://www.cassiopaea.org/cass/waveindex.htm
Although every person needs a different medium to understand the truth, this helped me immensely. Keep in mind I have been reading this information, and thinking it over, for about 6 months now, and am still not finished.
In my opinion, you are so right on with your thought centers. Now what is the application of this, other than to have a good life? Well…
This 3rd dimension, as we understand it, is actually just energy vibrating at a certain frequency. We just interpret this energy, thru the use of our five senses, as solid, liquid, loud, etc etc.
We, as humans, are all one consciousness experiencing this vibration as reality. The current day problem is that there are two opposing types of people, those who are service to self oriented (STS – those who do an action so in the end it ultimately benefits them) or service to others (STO – to give when asked without expecting anything in return). By increasing the “good vibrations”, i.e. STO, we will in turn begin to change the nature of earth.
We are soon enterign the fourth dimension/density, where we experience the reality without any reference to time. People don’t understand time is an illusion, but I thought about it (a lot) and this is the best way I can describe it. Time is linear. There HAS to be a start for time to work as we understand it. But what about the period of time that is NOW. It has NO duration, it cannot! Even an “instant” has some reference of time to it. But the feeling of now, which we feel continually, has no reference to time. In the same token, we “know” that energy cannot be created or destroyed, so it means it just Is. If something Is, there is no start, no end, it just cycles continuously.
If that is still confusing, let me try to explain how an event can be past, present, and future all at the same time. Say later on today you choose to eat lunch. That act, as you understand it now, is a future event. Then, when you eat, it is the present, and then becomes the past. The EVENT did not change, just your perception of the event did!
I am really sorry if this is confusing you, I would love for you to keep asking questions about ANYTHING you are confused about. What is more fun than learning?
And bear in mind, i dont think i am right! I bet there’s a lot of what i believe that holds no water… but through talking to like minded individuals, we might be able to come up with something better than anything we could come up with individually…
Hey Brendan, thanks for another great comment.
I’m actually very aware of ‘now’ and mention it in a lot of posts, you can view my article about it here:
http://www.pluginid.com/how-to-become-present/
I’m going to check out that site now, thanks!
you’re very welcome, thank you for your link too, its so important to understand the issue from many different perspectives!
You may also find this interesting
http://www.code144.com/
As well as
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/jill_bolte_taylor_s_powerful_stroke_of_insight.html
I have so much more… I am so happy you put this website up, it is an amazing way to share information..
I can tell you thirst for information just like I do… keep up the great work bud
To Glen, what you do here on this website is without a doubt contributing to the changing of human consciousness, shaping the future to what it truly is meant to be. So kudos to you my man.
To Brendan, I completely accept the Wave or Cassiopean now as the truth. I also have been reading into such ideas within the last 6 months or so through the power of the internet and connectiveness. The growing accouts from others of such apparent knowledge have solidified my ideas.
Nothing I come across anymore is such a surprised as you would think it would be because it seems to fit a continual puzzel that has made itself aware in my thoughts and mind. From the idea of spirituality intergrading with science to the idea of INDIGO children and the power of human networking. There is a movement arising I can feel in the very foundation of my soul and it is a exciting feelings. Our future self is within our present self considering in the future, time will not exist per say.
Anyway, your last statement of your first comment, Brendan, was completely intriguing.’..but through talking to like minded individuals, we might be able to come up with something better than anything we could come up with individually…’ I agree with this 100 percent and although would like nothing more to see this happen, I think that way we are going the KNOWLEDGE will become greatly apparent to everyone in the future..its just the matter of time that we as one will accomplish this.
Please comment back, I am starting to think that not being subtle at all, like as I am, does NOT work because most people cannot accept consciously these ideas. However in some ways it does not matter, it will happen either way.
Knowing such knowledge of oneness and complete consciousness as a WHOLE is completely liberating.
LearnLive&Love,
Ken
Also I apoligize if this is alittle much for some to grasp.
Yes, I found the hardest part about this process was to learn to trust my own thoughts and intuition, rather then trying to keep thinking in the group mentality. It was very frustrating to attempt to talk to people who couldn’t see the obvious truth in front of their eyes – it baffled my mind, I began to think I was the crazy one, which is exactly what they want you to think.
I have been attempting to understand the concept of “group think”… I believe a great example of this is
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LU8DDYz68kM
or maybe this has something to do with it-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quorum_sensing
anyone have any thoughts/suggestions? You must have some thought- whether you agree and have something to contribute, or think I am wrong and would like to tell me why, I am open to all and any suggestions
Hi Glen,
It is so true that we can’t get negative emotions unless we are thinking of negative thoughts and getting rid of negative thoughts is the way to eliminate our negative emotions. It is this simple and I wonder why didn’t I think of that before.
Cheers
Vincent
Personal Development Blogger
Hi Glen,
For me, I can get rid of those negative thoughts by just replacing or putting it in a positive way.
That’s good Don, if you are becoming aware of them and replacing them then I’m sure you’re living a very happy life
Simply beautiful. I write similar things and love how well and succinctly you’ve articulated this for others. Great value. Thanks so much, it was a pleasure to read.
I’d like to add that a meditation for setting aside a little time, space, and silence … can really aid when combined with the “observe your own thoughts” method you’ve illustrated. It can be very interesting to see what our minds do when we aren’t engaged in movement and chatter. Where will they wander, what will they think?
Hey Jason, thanks a lot for the nice words, I really appreciate that. I do practice meditation almost daily now and try to be in a room where there are minimal distractions and only a small amount of noise.
Thanks again!
Thinking negatively may result to a negative effect from what we think. considering our love ones is the best option for inpiration and be a positive thinker.