Cancel That Thought!
When we talk about having and maintaining a positive mental attitude in all of our undertakings, something really important needs to be understood. We know that our thoughts create our words and our words can create our behavior. At the same time though, we must admit that it can be very difficult to control our thoughts. So what happens? When we are faced with challenges, before we have a chance to do anything about it, our mind becomes filled with fear, we may experience physical reactions such as tension, sweaty palms, nervousness, etc., and we then begin to have conversations with others that sound something like this: “I knew that this would happen; these things ALWAYS happen to me”; “every time I think things are getting better, something always happens to get in the way” – you know what I’m talking about. Most of us are on automatic with negative thinking when faced with a challenge.
Today at my place of employment, I was faced with back-to-back challenges. This happens occasionally, and when it does, the tension, the stress, negative thoughts – they all seemed to hit me at once. Coworkers were looking at me wondering how I was going to deal with this prime example of Murphy’s Law from clients, to supervisors, to peers. Almost at the point when the results of negative thinking could have caused more challenges to be heaped upon me, I remembered something which I practice often, however the technique tends to elude me during times of high stress. The technique is so simple, yet so effective. What I say to myself is, “cancel that thought.” You might be thinking now – that’s it??? And the answer is a resounding “yes.” Many years ago, I was introduced to a book entitled, “The Game of Life and How to Play It”, by Florence Scovel Shinn. Ms. Shinn asserted that since our subconscious minds accepts whatever we program it with, then it stands to reason that if we have programmed a negative thought into our minds, we can neutralize and thereby cancel that thought by making such a declaration to our subconscious mind. Think about it for a moment – researchers who study the workings of the human mind accept the statement that the subconscious always says “yes.” Therefore, if you tell it to cancel a previously negative thought, it will oblige, thereby neutralizing any negative circumstances which may have resulted, had the thought remained unchecked.
I find this to be true in my own life, and can only suggest that you try it in your life and see if it works for you. I tend to receive confirmation that this technique works by having a feeling of peacefulness and an inner knowing that things will work out. The more you practice this technique, the faster your mind will respond and be on automatic with it during times of high stress. Let me know how it works for you. Blessings
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