Happiness is in Your Hands

Hello Beautiful Soul, 

Recently I was watching a video by Donna Eden, who works with the energy of people’s bodies. In the video there was a brief demonstration on how thoughts affect the energy of the body. She had a volunteer in front of her and asked him to think of a happy thought. Then she “Energy Tested” (you may have heard this called “Muscle Testing” with other practitioners) his arm (energy/muscles) and it was quite strong. She was not able to lower his outstretched arm by pressing down on it with her hand. Then she asked him to think about something that recently had caused him stress, and with that thought she was able to easily lower his arm by using just one finger. His arm (energy/muscle) was quite weak when thinking about a stressful situation in his life.  

I have seen such demonstrations in the past by other people, in other fields, (a chiropractor and a pastor) and it got me reflecting on how so many different teachers are giving the same message in various ways, which is; what you feel/think is absolutely tied to what you receive/create in life.  

On the one hand, we love the possibility that we can think and feel good things, wanted things, into our life. On the other hand, when we look at things in our life that we consider as bad, unwanted things, we have difficulty understanding that these things too have come about as a result of our thoughts/feelings/vibrations.  

But it is NOT my intention today to convince you of anything at all. Today I am only inviting you to reflect on the fact that many great spiritual teachers, from various backgrounds and belief systems, have taught the SAME concept regarding the power of your thoughts; 

“Happiness is determined more by one’s state of mind than by external events.” - Dalai Lama 

“A change of feeling is a change of destiny.” - Neville Goddard 

“Change your thoughts - Change your life.” - Wayne Dyer 

“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things." - Philippians 4:8 

“Everything you believe affects everything that comes to you. A belief is only a thought you keep thinking. Few realize that they can control the way they feel and positively affect the things that come into their life experience by deliberately directing their thoughts.” - Abraham Hicks 

“If we want a joyous life, we must think joyous thoughts. If we want a prosperous life, we must think prosperous thoughts. If we want a loving life, we must think loving thoughts. Whatever we send out mentally or verbally will come back to us in like form.” - Louise Hay 

“Your thoughts are the architects of your destiny.” - David O. McKay 

Buddhism too, is filled with what are called; “Mind training techniques” designed to train your mind away from negative (harmful) thoughts and towards positive (beneficial) thoughts.  

When you see this variety of writers and leaders all giving the same message in slightly different ways I hope you will begin (or continue) to pay attention to your inner world. I purposely wrote; “inner world” because to ask you to pay attention to EVERY thought, every day of your life is too daunting of a task. Thoughts can come rapid fire, and at times, seemingly from nowhere. Not every thought requires or deserves your attention even if you were able to pay attention to every single one of them. However, it is TOTALLY possible to monitor your FEELING throughout the day. Check in regularly. How are you feeling? If it is not how you want to feel, then cultivate thoughts that will generate within yourself the feeling that you desire. I have always found, and I have taught this for years in the Inspired Souls Club, that gratitude is a bridge that will take me easily from a negative feeling to a positive feeling. Here is an example that I have often shared; 

When I was suffering from a very painful health challenge, at times the pain was so excruciating that it seemed to flood into every aspect of my life. But part of me recognized that this was an illusion. Yes, there was pain, but it was not as all encompassing as it sometimes felt. So I would pause and do this little mental exercise of appreciating my body.  

“Yes, there is pain in my body. Part of my body is not functioning optimally and it is causing me pain. But other parts of my body are functioning well. Both of my eyes work pretty well. Yes, I need glasses, but I can see the world and this is a blessing because I love to look at flowers and trees. I love to see the smile on my husband’s face. My ears also work very well. I like to listen to birds and to music. My lungs are also working optimally. It feels good to take deep breaths with ease. My heart is also functioning with no issues and so are all of my organs. There is a lot of wellness in my body. My feet feel good. My toes feel good. My hands feel good and that is really good because I love to play my guitar. My arms and shoulders are healthy and that is really good because I love to hug my husband. I recognize that my body is primarily full of wellness.” 

I continue in this way, thinking thoughts of appreciation for my body and my life, until wellness and optimal health feel like the bigger picture and the pain I am experiencing is acknowledged as just a small part of the whole.  

You can use this technique in many situations;  

With your loved one who just snapped at you - Before responding in anger, first pause and list all of their good qualities. Remember all of the times that they treated you with love and patience.  List all of the things you love about them until their moment of rude impatience seems like a very small thing.  

Or with your water heater that just broke down (or any other appliance, or even your vehicle) - You can remember all of the times that it worked well and with no problems. Think about all of the wonderful hot showers you took on cold winter days - All of the times you only needed to turn on the faucet to enjoy that warm flow with no concern. It gets you away from thoughts of; “Things are ALWAYS breaking” and “NOTHING ever goes right” when you remind yourself of all the times things actually were working well and going right. And even if your broken appliance or vehicle is beyond repair, and its replacement will be a financial hardship, you can still think;  

“It will be nice to have a reliable appliance. I won’t have the stress of constant repairs. The new one might even be better than the old one. It will be fun to have a new, updated appliance. I have always managed my finances in the past. I am sure that I will find a way to pay for this new appliance too. It will be more efficient than the old one and reduce my energy costs too. I think I am going to like having this new appliance.” 

I hope that I have demonstrated clearly to you that, in any given moment, YOU get to decide how you want to feel. It is absolutely in your hands where you choose to place your focus, remembering that what you focus on expands.  

Even if you do NOT believe in the law of attraction and do NOT believe that your thoughts create your life, still, at the very basic level you can easily see that one of these thoughts feels better than the other: 

“Nothing ever goes right” 

or 

“Things go smoothly most of the time” 

And which one you decide to be “True” only depends on which one YOU choose to keep on thinking.  

If, dear one, you would like more techniques, and support, to continue working with your mind to create the best version of yourself and your life, you can always scroll through the curriculum of the Inspired Souls Club to find exactly what you need. And remember to join us as often as you can in our twice weekly online meditation sessions where we have a wonderful opportunity to practice these techniques, in meditation, to strengthen them for use in daily life.  

In closing I will leave you with one more quote; 

“Choose to be optimistic, it feels better.” - Dalai Lama 

Love and light, 

Jennifer

 

Note - This was originally a "Weekly Reflection" in the Inspired Souls Club that I decided to make as a public blog, not only to inspire you to claim your power to create the life you desire, but also to let you know what we do in the Inspired Souls Club so that folks who resonate with our work may be inspired to join us. 

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