Circumstances...

I have talked before about the emails I get from a guy named Jeff who has ALS. He sends out these really awesome motivational emails that always seem to hit me at the exact moment that I need to hear them. Today, his email was about circumstances growing out of thought. He talked about how there are some people who good things always happen to, and some people who only bad things happen to...and how the way you think about things plays a major part in this.

I've come to the belief over the past few years that how you believe is how things will be. If you think only bad things happen to you, then only bad things will happen. If you believe that things never go your way, they will never go your way. I'm not talking about living in denial and when something bad happens, pretending that it isn't bad. I am talking about an inner belief that your life is good, that things are good for you and that you can have or be anything that you want.

How can you become something that even you don't think is possible. There have been all kinds of studies that show that you are more apt to handle a situation appropriately if you have thought about it happening before it happens.

My friend Diane calls his "new age horseshit". But I believe it is true. I have seen it come true in my life. I have written down how I want things to be, how I want a situation to go, how I see my future. When I got back and read what I wrote, it is almost scary to me how closely my reality matches what I wrote. Granted, I am not writing things like "I won the lottery". I am writing things like "I handled the situation in a way that was peaceful and calm for me" or when writing about a marathon I say "I enjoyed the day" "I felt strong" " my run went according to plan".

There is something so empowering about being in control of your thoughts and chosing how you want to frame things. It is mental discipline. I work so hard on the physical discipline that it would be a waste to not make my mind work too, don't you think.

We have had lots going on lately and every now and then I feel overwhelmed and scared about outside influences and "circumstances". I got this email today from Jeff and realized that I can control my circumstances. I need to do more of that. Thanks, Jeff, for the reminder. Here is how he ended his email...

"That circumstances grow out of thought is incontrovertible. I suggest that you start taking inventory of what you are allowing to take a foothold in that mind of yours. The quality and direction of your life depends upon it."

Amen.