White Orchid Melody

Some of you may have read various books on the power of positive thinking, or the law of attraction.  The Law of Attraction states that what you focus on is what you create.  So if you focus on all your problems, you create more problems.  On the other hand, if you focus on what is great about your life, you’ll have more of the good things.  It is an interesting topic, I think, because it makes me wonder how much is real and how much is just perception.  For example, you buy a new car and all of a sudden there are cars just like yours everywhere.  There aren’t really more of those cars, you just pay more attention now.  But I think when your emotions are tied to something it goes deeper than just perception.  Energy attracts like forms of energy.  So when you dwell on the negative and your emotions are very strong about all the things you don’t like, you attract more of that negative energy.  So, how do we avoid focusing on the negative?  After all, you can’t just ignore your problems and hope they go away, right? 

The first step is to realize that problems are really just opportunities.  Even during the times we think all is lost we often end up being better off for the struggle.  I worked for a large corporation that “merged” with another.  It wasn’t really a merger, it was a take over.  Most of the people in our office got laid off.  What a tragedy, you might think.  But I’d venture to say that for 90% of the people there, it was a blessing.  It wasn’t exactly the most pleasant work environment, but the pay and benefits kept people around.  The layoffs forced people to get themselves out of a bad situation.  It is scary at first.  You think any job is better than being jobless and broke.  But we underestimate ourselves.  The company you work for is not the only company that could benefit from your talents.  For some of my coworkers it was an opportunity to work for a company that was more appreciative; for others it was an opportunity to pursue a different career path.  And then for others (like me) it was a chance to sit back and really figure out what they wanted their life to look like.  Inertia keeps people in bad situations far too long.  Sometimes life sends us an awful “problem” to remedy that.  The answer may not be obvious, but it at least forces us to consider other possibilities.
 
Once you realize that your problem is an opportunity, you can focus on finding a solution.  Don’t dwell on the problem.  You are just torturing yourself if you sit around thinking over and over again about how awful your situation is.  Why live like that.  Think about what an amazing opportunity lies in front of you.  Get creative.  Start brainstorming all the possible solutions out there. 

Lastly, be grateful for what you do have, for what is going right with you!  It is often a challenge to see the good in your life when something really difficult comes your way.  One way of getting in the habit of focusing on the positive is by starting a gratitude journal.  Each morning, when you wake up, or perhaps over breakfast, think of three things for which you are grateful.  Then, before you go to bed, write down something good that happened that day.  You’ll sleep better for it, going to bed with positive thoughts on your mind rather than dwelling on what went wrong or what didn’t get done that day.  So each day, you write down something different.  And if you are ever having a particularly rough time, you’ll have your journal of good thoughts to review.  That’s better than chocolate!