If You Doubt the Power of (Positive) Thinking, Just Look at What Negative Thinking Has Done for You So Far!
- Lisa Edwards
- Sep 10
- 5 min read
Positive Thinking is Powerful Thinking, But Negative Thinking is Just as Powerful if Not More!
As much as Positive thinking leads to success, love, abundance, answers, fulfilment, solutions, connection… negative thinking leads to scarcity, hate, problems, failures, mistakes, obstacles, opposition. They are the opposite sides of the coin; they are the opposing patterns of thought that will undoubtedly lead you in the direction they face. You just have to make the decision which way you want to go, then set your mind in that direction and the rest will follow.
If you have been taught to believe you are not clever enough, not pretty enough, not fast enough, not smart enough, not slim enough, not big enough, not enough in any which way or that you are not worthy of being loved, cherished, nice things, money, financial stability, or even feeling safe, please know that these thoughts that have been ‘planted’ by someone else (because all of us have been conditioned by the people and environments around us) have grown like ivy to cover and consume us. The negativity of these beliefs have rooted themselves within us and we have unwittingly let them take over so many parts of (if not all) of our lives. The negative thoughts seem as though they are part of us, as though they are us, and we are them… when in fact, they are just thoughts and thoughts can be changed.
Yes, our thoughts become our reality, so the fact that we can change our thoughts prove that we can change our reality too. Isn’t that amazing!
The life we thought we were stuck with, the life that has made us miserable and frustrated is just a creation made up of someone else’s or various other people’s ideas and expectations. We may not know or understand why they were put on us although it is usually because either they don’t know any better or they do, and it was a choice (narcissistic parents). The other reasons we may have thoughts and ideas of not being good enough are the pressures from our society, whether it be the ‘normal’ things we are supposed to do / achieve at certain times in our life or the pressures put upon us by the advertising industry.
Depending on the depth the negative thoughts and messages have rooted themselves and how long they have had to grow will have an effect on how much time and how much work it will take to eliminate them. It is not necessarily going to be easy, changing your mindset can be challenging, but it can be done even after decades of narcissistic gaslighting, manipulation and coercion.
The negative thoughts that swirl around in your mind day-after-day, night-after-night are strengthening themselves with each rotation. They help to grow new ones too but mostly they just like to recycle themselves making their neural pathway stronger.
Most people will say that they think all day long, but did you know that out of the 60,000 thoughts we have each day more than 90% of all thoughts most people have are recycled ones. They same ones as yesterday and the day before, and the day before that, and the day before that.
Henry Ford once said that ‘Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is probably the reason few people engage in it.’
If you are ready to ‘engage in the hardest work there is’ you can change your mindset and create new thoughts that are in line with who you really are, instead of this this person they told you that you were. You can create thoughts that spark a light in you and make you want to jump out of bed in the morning because the day offers you enjoyment, fun, fulfilment, solutions, connections etc.
Just because you are here and not where you want to be, does not mean you have to stay here. You don’t have to be the person you became; you can become the person you want to be. The choice is yours. Some people won’t like it. Be ready for that. They are used to you being this person, especially if they were the ones who helped create this version of you. If they don’t like that you are making changes, then at some point you may have to make another choice… if them being part of your life means you have to sacrifice who you want to be then the price may be too high. Your happiness matters. Theirs does too, but just as YOU are responsible for your happiness, THEY are responsible for theirs. You don’t owe anyone your life, except you. You owe it to yourself to live your own life fully, if they love you (not just say it, but actually love you) they will accept that you need to do what you need to do and they will support and love you throughout. This is one of the biggest reasons people don’t go through with making changes, they are too afraid to upset other people. or they listen to other people tell them that they can’t change or do what they want to do. Napoleon Hill who wrote one of the biggest self-help books of all time 'Think and Grow Rich’ once said ‘The No. 1 reason people fail in life is because they listen to their friends, family, and neighbours.’
As much as we want to believe that our loved ones are on our side, most of the time they aren’t even thinking about what we are doing. When one person gets up off of their behind, steps out of their comfort zone and makes changes, real changes, it makes other people uncomfortable. Why? because it highlights something in them they don’t want to see:
How come you get to do it and I didn’t? (not realising they could have).
Knowing they could do it but frustrated you did, and they are still in the same spot using their energy for spite instead of thinking and doing.
You were never meant to do better than them (narcissistic parents).
Now, your loved ones might not even know they feel like that, it may just be that their limiting beliefs are so strong that they honestly didn’t think you would be able to make changes, if that is the case they will probably come around and support you after the initial shock. They may even begin to make some changes themselves, being inspired by your courage and determination.
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