I\u2019m sure this quote by Buddah isn\u2019t an unfamiliar idea.\u00a0 Perhaps you didn\u2019t attribute it to him but undoubtedly you have heard an idea similar to this uttered many times over your life.\u00a0 It\u2019s a popular notion among psychologists and psychiatrists.\u00a0 Gurus of the self-help movement have relied on it for years as the explanation of why people behave as they do.\u00a0 It\u2019s also considered the easiest way for people to change aspects of their behavior.\u00a0 \u201cAs we think so we are.\u201d <\/i><\/p>\n
A book I wrote a few years ago, CHANGE YOUR MIND AND YOUR LIFE WILL FOLLOW<\/i><\/b>, offered a dozen simple principles for changing ourselves by changing how we think. \u00a0 It\u2019s important to admit that we aren\u2019t stuck in a pattern of behavior unless we choose to be.\u00a0 That\u2019s the fortunate news.\u00a0 It was always \u201cour truth,\u201d in fact, even though we may not have embraced it or allowed it to influence who we were or who we were capable of becoming.\u00a0 However, regardless of where we are in our life, there is no reason not to change something about ourselves even now if we fail to be at peace with our choices, our friendships, our anticipations about how the future looks.\u00a0 That\u2019s very good news, indeed.\u00a0 It is never too late to create<\/i><\/b> a happy life.<\/p>\n
I personally consider this a blessing.\u00a0 Hopefully you do too.\u00a0 There is no reason to let life slip by, assuming that we have no power to change that which we experience.\u00a0 That\u2019s the only thing we have the power to change, in fact, and it\u2019s not because we can change others.\u00a0 Never can we change others.<\/i><\/b>\u00a0 But we can change how we experience others.\u00a0 <\/i><\/b>Each and every other.\u00a0 That\u2019s because we can change our perspectives on everything and everyone.\u00a0 We sit, at any age, in the seat of power when it comes to observing and interacting with <\/i><\/b>the world around us.\u00a0 How we do it is our choice, always.\u00a0 The childhood lament of \u201che made me do it\u201d has been over for decades.<\/p>\n
You may be feeling some doubt about this.\u00a0 We don\u2019t always recognize just how much personal power we have.\u00a0 Therefore, let\u2019s try an experiment.\u00a0 Surely there is at least one thing in your life you would like to change.\u00a0 I can certainly think of a few.\u00a0 For instance, I want to quit making snap judgments.\u00a0 I\u2019ve been guilty of this trait my whole life, at times being better at not judging than at other times.\u00a0 But any judgment I\/we make, doubles back on us.\u00a0 What can we do to break this pattern?\u00a0 Here is what works for me.\u00a0 When I meet someone new or am in the company of someone who \u201cgets under my skin,\u201d I try to remember to pause.\u00a0 I say try<\/i><\/b> because I know how easy it is to slip off the plan.\u00a0 But I have learned that what I see in someone else that I so quickly judge is a part of my personality too.\u00a0 Generally, a part I hate in fact.\u00a0 Pausing gives me time to \u201crethink\u201d what I\u2019m thinking.<\/p>\n
Just contemplate what it is that you want to change.\u00a0 If it helps to close your eyes and \u201clook over\u201d the past couple of weeks of your life, do so.\u00a0 No doubt, that which you \u201cneed\u201d to change, will leap forward in your mind. \u00a0Look at it squarely and bravely say, “Okay. \u00a0If not now, when?”<\/p>\n
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I\u2019m sure this quote by Buddah isn\u2019t an unfamiliar idea.\u00a0 Perhaps you didn\u2019t attribute it to him but undoubtedly you have heard an idea similar to this uttered many times over your life.\u00a0 It\u2019s a popular notion among psychologists and psychiatrists.\u00a0 Gurus of the self-help movement have relied on it for years as the explanation […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[4,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3551","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-circle-of-family-and-friends-you-and-your-personal-community","category-reflections-in-the-mirror-you-and-yourself"],"yoast_head":"\n