Our Thoughts...

We are what we think.
All that we are arises with our thoughts.
With our thoughts, we create the world.

-The Buddha 

One of the most important lessons that I have learned, over the last couple years, is that my thoughts become my reality. Simply put, if I believe I will fail, I will. If I believe I will succeed, I will. Both of these are tested, tried, and proven theories. Granted, I have vastly more experience with failing... but, that is just because, for most of my life, I expected to fail. I never thought I was worthy of success, or happiness. Because I believed it, on a visceral level, it was true.

A couple years ago... about the same time I started working towards my AA, with a couple years left to do, I picked up a book called "Change Your Thinking, Change Your life", By Brian Tracy. I liked the sound of the title, so I decided to give it the once over. Since that day, the principles I learned in that book have been the foundation of the revolution that has been occurring within my spirit and mind. 

It is mind boggling, to me, that a concept so simple and yet so powerful was lying right underneath my nose all along. How could it be so simple? And yet it is... I don't mean to say that, one day, I just changed the way I thought about everything and lived happily ever after... It was a gradual evolution... and one that is still in process. I still battle with self doubt, but now I pretty much have an auto-mechanism that kicks in and reminds me that I have to believe my goals and tasks will be accomplished, if I want that to become a reality. Immediately, I visualize what i want, as if it already exists. The results have been extremely tangible and nothing short of amazing. Ever since I turned the corner and started really knowing that I was a good person and deserved success, things have almost magically been falling into place. I go forward with confidence and a strong belief that what I want, will be; I visualize it as already being reality... and the right thing just seems to happen, at the right time. I meet the right person, who has the knowledge I am seeking. I stumble upon solutions to problems in ways I had not anticipated.

Of course, there is a lot of hard work and dedication involved. It's pretty hard to convince yourself that things are going to work out, when you just sit on your ass and do nothing (although there are people that seem to somehow make that work). It is a symbiotic relationship, for me. My hard work gives me a sense of self worth, my sense of self worth allows me to believe I deserve (and am capable of) success. My belief seems to empower my ability to achieve my goals, which gives me the drive to keep working hard. It all comes around, full circle.

I strongly encourage any of you, who are seeking to transform your lives, to give some serious thought to how you view yourself and what your expectations are, on a truly visceral level. Do your beliefs and expectations correlate with your experiences? I'm willing to bet that, for better, or worse, they do.