Why Do We Think That

What is at the core of your thinking? What motivates you to act and what actions do you take as a result of what you think? Do you wake up in the morning and immediately begin to think good thoughts? What is the first thing you begin to think about? C’mon, be honest. What is the first thought of your day?

Normally for me, it’s about work. I don’t immediately begin to think about my dreams, but more about the immediacy of this days’ work, the responsibilities, the habits to which I have allowed myself to be conditioned. Perhaps I’ll think (or worry) about the momentary trials I’m facing or the tasks I think must be done right away or somehow my life would be incomplete. For other folks there is an entirely different minutia to fill the void on the everyday subconscious mind.

One morning, while I was lying in bed with too much time on my hands and instead of the normal drone of thought, I began to think about the wellspring of life. I wondered, “What beautiful thoughts originate there and why wasn’t I thinking more of those types of thoughts with any regularity? You know; life giving, life affirming and healing types of thought? The kind of inspirational view that makes hearts and birds sing. Why wasn’t I contemplating the dreams that were almost certainly beneath the surface of my mind?

My dreams of achievement may not totally originate within me. Yet, I feel am the creator of my own reality, at least in terms of the elements of what I draw to myself based on what I think about most frequently, most vigorously and most intensely.

So I wound up asking myself again, why was I thinking what I was thinking in the early AM just before rising or for that matter in the PM before retiring to bed. Why were the thoughts I was thinking the focus of my life? Why was I thinking of such mundane, unproductive drivel instead of contributions I could make to myself or others? Isn’t contributing to the lives of others in a way that produces qualities consistent with goodness, kindness and wholeness more important or at least more appealing than yesterday’s news and concerns?

Today I thought; wouldn’t it be more beneficial for everyone, including myself if I connected with thoughts that produce positive, life giving actions and lead to a life worthy of emulation? Mahatma Gandhi once said “be the change you want to see.” That phrase finally sunk in, so I began to address what and how I think. My intention is to be the change I want to see!!!

It’s not about income, it’s not about outcome, but it’s wholly about being welcome. It’s about bringing to the world a being of goodness, a light that shines bright enough to provide a path for others, should they choose to see it. It’s not about changing the world; it’s about changing me, my perception of how I see the world. It’s about being the change I want to see and starting right here and now!

No one forces us to think anything. We can be influenced, we can be coerced, but we cannot be made to think anything we don’t want to think. So why do we? Why do we wake up and think thoughts that are inconsistent with what we believe are in our best interest and desires and maybe would even contribute to the highest good of all who are around us?

The time for me to be me, is right now; right now! And perhaps for you too!

Invigoration, enthusiasm for life and living, motivated to move the mountains of change, not the rocks of resistance, moving away from the habits of heaviness and hovering over the heart of happiness. That is where I am headed. A simple step, the smallest change – one simple thought away from being good, being happy, being the change I want to see, all from asking questions, listening for the answers and then taking the next step in thinking it can be so. As Zig Ziglar would say, “See you at the top.”

Where do our thoughts come from? I’m not sure, but I know who controls in what direction they go!

What lies behind us and what lies before us are small matters compared to what lies within us.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson