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1. Stay Mentally Aware. You can choose how and when to change your mind. You re in control! There are many daily activities we do on an unconscious habitual basis. In a way, that s fortunate because if we had to consciously decide every morning whether, to stir our coffee clockwise or counter clockwise it would drive us crazy. There are many things we do without thinking. We brush our teeth and tie our shoes a certain way. We kiss our spouse or hug our kids at certain times of the day. It almost becomes rote or routine. There are thousands of daily choices and things we do that are habitual. I ve read that there is statistical proof that the conscious mind only occupies 5% of our total thoughts and our subconscious takes over the other 95% of the time. But no matter how automatic our actions, we can make a conscious decision to change them by changing the way we think about them. When there is something that you habitually do that starts to cause pain, you begin thinking about changing it. You say to yourself, what was I thinking. Its human nature at first to start berating yourself about how stupid you are to continue letting that thing control you and cause you discomfort or pain. I know exactly how this happens. I ve always been fidgety with a lot of nervous energy. This has caused me to twirl and twist my hair. Since a very young teenager when I get anxious or nervous I can t keep my hands out of my hair. Even now, when I m watching an action packed movie I catch myself pulling and twisting my hair! Now, I don t have a lot of hair to pull out. I ve tried and tried to stop pulling my hair. When I find myself doing it, my first reaction is to get mad at myself and say, Why are you doing this stupid thing again! Usually it just takes me becoming aware that I m doing it and then to consciously sit on my hands or fold them in my lap. It comes with that first thought of being AWARE of what I m doing. Then I can consciously decide what I want to do instead. In the case of my hair pulling, I know that if I keep doing it my hair will become uneven and I ll look lopsided or worse, become bald. That matters to me. That causes me discomfort and pain. As much time and money as I spend on my hair to cover the gray and keep it styled I don t want some nervous unconscious habit to destroy all my good efforts to look presentable. Stay mentally aware!
2. Fill your mind with good information and the right knowledge. We are living in the information age. All around we have access to boundless information via our phones, laptops, televisions. We can google just about anything these days. We can become experts and fill our minds with as much information and knowledge about a subject as we have time to read and study. The biggest contributor to our information age is the internet. The World Wide Web was invented in 1989 and has quickly become the main provider and our main source for information. I ve read that the Internet could not be destroyed by one main catastrophe or event. The information could be easily rerouted and made available. So it should be with our minds and thinking. The thought process is very powerful and every action starts with a thought. When we experience one bad thought or feeling or catastrophe we can just reroute the following thoughts and turn them into something that could benefit or be more positive for our situation. Our thoughts also control our emotions. When we have thoughts that are not in harmony with our true selves we have the ability to send that thought away and then re-route the following thoughts to be aligned with our true beliefs.
From an early age we were taught factual information at home and school and experienced many situations that helped program our minds. Part of our programming comes from our heritage or our genes. It gives us our personality and determines our body mechanics and functions. The other programming was from our environment. This taught us how to get along with others and how to learn and act. Other environmental training came from the TV and movies or what we read or were told by our peers. Our teachers and parents also contributed to our early programming. If there was a bad experience in our past we can let ourselves think about it and let that thought enter our subconscious mind so that every time that experience presents itself we will react in the same way every time. But, there is a way to keep that from happening. Action Step: Create several sentences or statements that you can store on your IPhone open page or write on 3 x 5 index cards and keep on your bathroom mirror, in your car, or on your desk at work. Some place where you ll be reminded to focus, repeat and reaffirm and pray about what you are changing and why you are changing it. One of the affirmations that helped me as I was overcoming a smoking addiction was, The fresh air I am breathing into my lungs is healing my body, mind and soul. A whisper prayer that also helped was repeating Philippines 4:13, I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength. Other people have given me the below affirmations that worked for them. If you cannot come up with one right away just pick one of these that resonates with you. I can change anything by changing my thoughts. I have the ability and power to change any habit in order for my body to heal kind I will change my thoughts to include things that are only pure, loving and I am happy and vacationing 2 months out of every year in a tropical paradise I am working just four days a week owning my own thriving business Use what s best for you and include whatever are your goals or desires. You have to feed your mind constant and continuous thoughts that repeat the same phrases over and over again. Repeat your affirmations every morning and night for a month and they will become an automatic part of your thinking. It will require practice like any skill you are learning but, after a while it will become ingrained into your mind and become a part of you and become second nature. Any change will seem scary at
first but with time, patience and practice you will see the positive changes start to occur in your life. If you are experiencing any type of pain or discomfort because of a habit just believe that you can change once you have made that decision. No one else can make that decision for you. If you are tired of living in your pain and want the peace, joy and pleasure of a good life, you need to alter the information that is coming into your mind and let your thoughts lead you to change your life. 3. Replace the negative thoughts with positive ones. I believe that one of the major reasons we have been unable to make positive changes in the past is because of the negative ruts we ve allowed to become imbedded in our brains. Just like the Grand Canyon has been carved and worn over the years with steady streams and the pounding of the Colorado River, we ve allowed the steady, pounding negative thoughts and influences to carve into our brains and wear down our minds until there seems nowhere else to flow. I also believe that the negative ruts get deeper as we allow ourselves to justify or come up with excuses for our current actions or behavior. As you think about some of your favorite excuses, keep in mind that you can only rise higher by taking responsibility for your choices and who you presently are as a person. There is no judgment in that statement. I just want us to become intentional and recognize and admit our present set of circumstances and why sometimes we stay stuck in those negative ruts. As you practice incorporating #1 from above and stay mentally aware of the thoughts coming into your mind you can decide to kick out the negative thought before giving it time to seed and root in your brain. Kick it out and replace it with a positive thought or what I like to call a whisper prayer. Dear God, thank you for giving me the power of choice. I decide right now to kick this negative thought to the curb and instead replace it with kind, loving and peaceful thoughts. This has worked for me in the past. I make it into a game. A game where I make the rules and I am winning. A game where the prize is power of my thoughts and my life. Decide to WIN your game today! 4. Dream. Now allow yourself to Dream. Dream and visualize how you will feel when you have mended that relationship or conquered that addiction. How will you feel when that child graduates or you have more time to volunteer at the homeless shelter, or more time to enjoy vacations with your spouse. What will that feel like in one
month, in six months, in a year? When those negative thoughts and emotions that have clouded your mind and robbed you of your peace and joy, when they are gone and your mind is filled with only thoughts of freedom and certainty, confidence, peace and love! When we dream as if the desired outcome has already happened we awaken a part of our mind and spirit that automatically seeks to achieve it. It gives us that extra juice or motivation we need to keep trying and moving forward. It will attract all the people, resources and situations into your life that you will need to accomplish that goal. Athletes have been using it since the 1960 s. They visualize swinging the golf club for the hole in one, scoring the winning touchdown, making all the foul shots or knocking out the opponent with one punch. Athletes want to condition their mind so their body will automatically perform when their time comes because the outside world is a mirror image of the inside mental world. See, dream and visualize yourself winning. I ve read that Michelangelo said about his Statue of David, I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free. He was able to use his mind to visualize David in the slab of marble and then carved him out of it. John F. Kennedy visualized sending a man to the moon, the Wright Brothers visualized a man flying in an airplane, Edison visualized sending sound through the airways and others visualized having a conversation across the world with no wires. Great, wonderful things have been invented and accomplished and moved our world into a higher and more productive economy and state because of those who allowed themselves to visualize and dream. It s easy to do! Concentration and relaxation are two of the most important requirements as you bring a loving positive energy to the experience. Sit in a comfortable position and close your eyes and imagine with laser-like focus with as much emotion as you can give it. See in living color with vivid detail; hear the sounds
as you see your situation unfolding. How does it look and feel after you have achieved your goal? This is powerful and it works! This is going to take more than you accepting that this will work on an intellectual level. You are going to need to put into action the small necessary steps of repeating these affirmations that will reinforce your mind and your thinking. I know you re thinking this is so basic. But, believe in the power of words and believe in the power you have over your habitual actions. I believe in you and I m here to help you! You can do this! If you have enjoyed this reading please visit me at www.maryannblount.com for more training and articles. I look forward to hearing from you and working with you in the near future. It s an honor to have you visit my site and I hope in some small way the readings will influence your life in a positive way. Change starts with you, one thought, one choice, then one action at a time. Let s do this..dare to change!