Happiness is Only a Good Thought Away
If
I told you, “Don’t think of a frosty mug of beer,” what
happens? You immediately think of that image. I told you not to
do it, but you did it. That means that someone else can influence
and manipulate your thoughts, but only you can ultimately
control them. A good teacher can influence your thoughts just
like a preacher can, or like the commercials on TV can. Does
that mean that you are at the mercy of whatever is around you?
Yes. If you pay attention to whatever is around you. That is the
power the media exerts over their audience.
Fortunately,
you are truly free to pay attention to and focus on whatever you
choose. You can daydream, envision, and ponder whatever you
want. You may even make it a habit to only pay attention to that
which pleases you.
It
has been proven by reputable researchers that people with high
blood pressure can bring it down by listening to classical music,
watching a happy movie, or listening to comedians.
In
the area where I live, there is a radio station that
broadcasts local news all day long. I call it Radio Pánico
in Spanish, my native tongue. This station alerts the driver
about congested areas to avoid and, of course, the weather and
any other imminent (or perceived) disaster. In the winter, we may hear something like this:
“One
of our weather-watchers has sighted snowflakes north of
Germantown! Listen to our meteorologist, Julius Panicus, who
will tell us how many inches of snow, sleet and ice we may get
before tomorrow morning’s rush hour.”
What
are most listeners thinking? Probably something like this:
“I
better stop at the grocery store and by several gallons of milk
and five loaves of bread, get batteries, and buy salt for my
walkway, and I hope I get there before everything's bought out…”
Traffic
jams and confusion follow, and the driver, now stressed to
distraction will rear-end another worried driver and on and on…
How
about health warnings? During a recent TV news broadcast, the
top 6 stories were about one type of hazard to life or limb or
another!
"Could you have this horrible disease?
If you are over 45, Caucasian, and overweight, you better run to
your doctor. There’s this new drug. Ask your doctor, who will
charge you plenty for prescribing it to you.
[Then you can pay
another bundle for the drug itself. But don’t forget the side
effects!] "You may experience nausea, constipation or diarrhea,
dizziness, rashes, discoloration of the skin, liver damage and
death."
You have all heard different versions of the same message.
The message is, “be afraid because your life is in danger.”
Can
we dare to walk around all day without color-coded alerts? Red
alert for allergies, orange for terrorism… How about
purple for radio and television? How about just switching
the radio to a music station, or the TV to a comedy show? Canceling
the newspaper subscription? Changing the subject at a dinner
party?
How
irresponsible of me! We can’t ignore the world around us. We
can’t live in denial... Or can we? I think we would be happier if
we did.
Can
we think ourselves into happiness? Yes, we absolutely can. We
can choose thoughts that bring us good feelings. We are completely
free to think whatever we want. If we can bring ourselves to
feeling as if we were already living the life we envision for
ourselves, we will have it. It cannot be otherwise.
We
have habits of thought. For some of us, thinking ourselves
into happiness may take longer. If we have been feeling poorly for
a long time, it will take more time to take incremental steps. It
is like physical exercise. It will show improvement if we stay the
course.
First,
you said: “A truck ran over my cat, someone stole my wallet,
and my unruly child got expelled from school. I cannot feel
good.”
Later,
you said: “My cat was old and he went fast. I wasn’t
carrying much money and my credit card was maxed out anyway. My
child? My child just turned 18! It isn’t that bad, really.”
Then
you moved to: “My neighbor found this adorable kitten. She
sits on my lap whenever she can. I usually manage quite well in
the face of adversity. I feel so much better!”
As
time goes on, although adversity may still visit you from time
to time, you will be able to feel good in spite of it all. And
when you don’t, you will be able to bring yourself out of
negative feelings.
|
