Browsed by
Tag: positive thinking

Sparks of Insight

Sparks of Insight

Sparks of InsightWhat thoughts are you depositing in your mind? Your mind is like a bank, your thoughts attract others like them, whether they’re positive or negative. They compound, which means they grow in a similar fashion. If you dwell on fear or anger, they’ll increase into anxiety or hostility. However, by putting your attention mainly on peace and harmony, those will propagate into serenity and joy. You’re in charge of your thoughts. Be aware of their direction and deposit the kind you want.

~ Linda-Ann Stewart

How can I increase the power of my affirmations?

How can I increase the power of my affirmations?

Question MarkQuestion: How can I increase the power of my affirmations?

Answer: There are a couple of things to do to increase the power of affirmations that have been used. The first would be to actually affirm the affirmation. It sounds odd, but you would affirm that the original affirmations are actually in Universal Mind and your creative mind, that they’re already working even if you don’t know how it’s happening or how it could manifest.

Affirming that you know that it’s being done, or affirming that you trust your subconscious to take what you’ve impressed on it and bring it into manifestation. What you’re doing is increasing your belief in the affirmation actually working. And you can also just affirm that the affirmations are increasing in power each time you say them.

Another thing you can do is to back off of stating affirmations for specific things. Instead, use affirmations that increase your general acceptance of all things good. Although specific affirmations bring specific results, sometimes we get too tense about the specifics, and try to will them into being. This just blocks the ability of the subconscious to manifest. All the energy is going into the willpower and trying to control the manifestation.

By backing away, and just beginning to affirm a greater acceptance of all good, it begins to broaden the scope of your consciousness and opens it to a greater range of good. Something like: “All the good of the Universe is already mine. I’m allowing myself to experience more of all the good that there is in all areas of my life.”

Also, whenever you think of the issue you’re affirming, remind yourself that your affirmation has already taken care of it. This gives the affirmation more power. Remember that the more you wonder when, why or how it’ll be done, that siphons energy away from manifesting the affirmation. It’s not easy, but each time you use an affirmation, have the attitude that it is now done, even if you can’t see any evidence of it at that time.

~ Linda-Ann Stewart

Sparks of Insight

Sparks of Insight

Sparks of Insight“Worry is a misuse of imagination.” ~ Dan Zadra

Worry is a useless waste of energy. Most of what you worry about never happens. And worry drains you of energy and resources. It keeps you from being able to build something better for yourself. The only time that worry can help is when it urges you to make arrangements and avoid the issue. Otherwise, it can actually attract difficulties. When you’re worried, imagine Universal Good in the middle of the situation. It will be the truth.

~ Linda-Ann Stewart

Trending Articles of the Week

Trending Articles of the Week

Grand Canyon Sunset - East of Yaki PointPsychologists Reveal One Of The Best Ways To Boost Your Mood
Research has found that altruism or being kind can improve your mood better than doing things for yourself. There are other benefits to these acts, as well. Read the article for a deeper understanding of how focusing beyond yourself is better for you mentally and physically.

10 Surprising Facts About Rejection
Research finds that rejection affects more than just your feelings. It also impacts your reason, intelligence, brain and more. This article has some interesting facts about how rejection and how it can be eased.

Frequent Complaining Can Badly Affect Your Brain, Here’s Why
Are you stuck in a cycle of negativity? If so, you’ve trained your brain to keep you there. But there is a way you can get out of it. This article goes into how and why you get stuck, and what to do to change it.

Book Review-“Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life”

Book Review-“Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life”

Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life
by Martin Seligman, Ph.D.

Wow! This is another book that I recommend to my clients, participants in my classes, and practically anyone who’s ever experienced depression, pessimism, or difficulty in achieving their dreams. Based on over twenty years worth of research, Dr. Seligman shows how optimism combats depression, improves health, enhances success, and much more. Not a rah-rah book for being positive, it covers the questions about his research and how he came to his conclusions.

There are exercises to test whether you’re optimistic or not, and how depressed you might be. A thought always precedes an emotion, and Dr. Seligman found that pervasive negative thoughts always preceded a person’s depression. He describes how some people “learn” to be helpless, and then don’t try, even when they are assured of success. If you’re a parent, teacher, or have a child in your life, the author explains how children become pessimistic and how it affects their lives. He even addresses the conditions when realistic thinking, not optimism, is best in the situation.

Best of all, this book gives instructions on how to change your thinking from pessimistic to optimistic. You simply have to learn how to change the way you explain the situations of your life to yourself. In other words, change your internal dialogue.

It’s an engrossing and entertaining read, considering that it covers much of his research. But it also gives case histories of people who have changed their lives. I can’t recommend this book highly enough.

~ Linda-Ann Stewart

Trending Articles of the Week

Trending Articles of the Week

Sunset at Hopi Point at Grand CanyonStopping ‘Should’ Shaming — Ending the Self-Imposed Guilt Game
Unless you are already aware of the damage it causes, you probably say “should” at least a few times a day. When you say this word, it indicates that you aren’t doing what you would benefit from, or you’re not committed to a decision. This brings on guilt and self-reproach, which don’t help the situation. Here are 3 steps to take to stop “shoulding” on yourself and feeling better.

Science Says Silence Is Much More Important To Our Brains Than We Think
Research is finding that silence can actually help your brain in many different ways. It can grow more brain cells and improve your memory and learning. Silence helps your brain to process and integrate information. Of course, it also relieves stress and tension. Read this article to find other ways that silence helps your brain.

10 Must Watch Ted Talks on Positive Emotions
Barbara Fredrickson, the developer of Broaden and Build Theory, introduced the idea that the more positive emotions we experience sends us into an upward spiral where happiness and well being dwell. Her research into the dynamics and benefits of positive emotions focuses primarily on the 10 most common positive emotions. This article focuses on TED talks which offer some insight into these different positive emotions.

Book Review-30-Day Mental Diet

Book Review-30-Day Mental Diet

Thirty-Day Mental Diet: The Way to a Better Life
by Willis Kinnear

It’s nice to establish a more positive mental attitude. But it’s sometimes difficult to discipline yourself to keep your thoughts on a higher plane. That’s where this book can help.

The author calls this a “mental diet” because you’re choosing what to put into your mind, just as a food diet relates to what you put into your body.

I’ve followed this “mental diet” for the prescribed time, and I found that my attitude improved, things flowed more smoothly, and I felt much more grounded spiritually. Each day builds on the information of the day before, so your spiritual understanding gets deeper as the month progresses.

Each day begins with an exploration of that day’s idea, followed by some quotes related to the topic. The diet is a meditation related to the idea, and then a short statement encapsulating the meditation. It takes less than ten minutes to read, and it is food for your soul.

This book gives you the focus you need to think more clearly about the Universe and your place in It.

Trending Articles of the Week

Trending Articles of the Week

Watson Lake and Granite Dells, Prescott, AZ11 Ways to Improve Your Relationship With Yourself
Your relationship with yourself is the most important one in your world, because it’s the one consistent one you have. The rest of your world and experience is perceived through and is a reflection of that single relationship. To have a better life, improve your primary relationship. Here are 11 ways to do it.

Different Views of Forgiveness
People who are able to forgive their offenders have less anxiety and depression and more positive emotions. However, forgiveness doesn’t mean that you absolve the offender of their responsibility or forget the offense. Forgiveness is for your health and wellbeing. It frees you from the past.

If You Want To Focus More, Never Try Harder, Science Says
Often when you try to focus on a task or avoid temptation you try to use your willpower. However, a study has shown that the harder you try the more you end up exhausted. But willpower is like a muscle, it can be exercised and become stronger. This article gives a tip on how to strengthen your willpower so that you can accomplish your goals.

~ Linda-Ann Stewart

How long does it take to change?

How long does it take to change?

Question MarkQuestion: Is it true that we can achieve anything with alpha level, and if so, how long does it take and how does it work?

Answer: We can achieve just about anything by accessing and using the alpha level, which is where we go in meditation, self-hypnosis, daydreaming or as we’re drifting off to sleep. This is simply a state where we are more inwardly focused on some idea. Everything you’ve already achieved, or not, all of your habits, the ways you feel about yourself and your world, have been programmed in by way of the alpha level.

Just think of your beliefs and expectations about your world. You can change them when you’re in the alpha level, and your world will then change. But understand, the only person you can change is yourself. You can’t change or affect other people by using the alpha level. You can change the way you feel about yourself, and with greater self-worth, insist on more respect and better treatment. But it has to begin with you.

The changes can begin immediately, but usually it takes a few weeks to notice a significant improvement. That’s because you’ve been on this old track for a long time, and it takes a period of time and energy to turn it around. The subconscious has to know that you’re serious about the change, so you’ll have to spend some time convincing it. You’d do that by focusing on the change in the alpha state, making sure that you don’t deny or doubt it during your daily life, and taking any action to bring it about.

Don’t confuse the subconscious by focusing on the change in the alpha state, then wonder if it’s going to happen, or dwell on the opposite. The more you’re able to bring your whole being into line with your desire, the faster it will occur, sometimes overnight.

~ Linda-Ann Stewart

Why do I attract critical people into my life?

Why do I attract critical people into my life?

Sunset Crater, Flagstaff AZQuestion: Why do I attract critical people into my life?

Answer: There will always be some negative people who swirl into and out of our world. But if critical people are a constant in your life, then something else is generally going on. There can be several reasons for this.

The first could be that they’re simply reflecting the inner critic within you. You may be very judgmental of yourself, and you’ve attracted them because of your own self-criticism. If they put you down in similar ways that you do to yourself, or pick on characteristics that you already feel insecure about, this is probably the case.

A second reason could be that, due to low self-esteem, you don’t set appropriate boundaries. Negative people can generally sense who they can belittle without consequences and who they can’t. When they can, they simply dump their discontentment on others.

In both of these cases, standing up to the criticism (both inner and outer) will help to eliminate them from your life. They’ll either change their response to you or leave your life.

Another reason for critical people in your life could be that you may be so positive and optimistic that you’re stirring up others’ unhappiness. “Misery loves company” as the old saying goes, and these folk may be trying to bring you down. Unfortunately, whenever someone is happy, positive, upbeat, and successful, it casts a light on others’ attitudes and they don’t like what they see in themselves.

Instead of changing, they try to change you. In this case, realize it’s their issue, not yours. Take appropriate action when you need to, letting them know that their negativity isn’t appreciated. These are simply unhappy people.

Copyright 2007, 2016 Linda Ann Stewart
All Rights Reserved