" Watch your thoughts as they become your words, watch your words as they become your actions, watch your actions as they become your habits, watch your habits as they become your character, watch your character as they become your destiny." -Anonymous
Our thoughts become our daily experiences. We cultivate thoughts that show their fruits in our future. If we keep reinforcing negative affirmations, such as: “I hate my work”, “I can’t stand the morning traffic” or “I hate my house”, then we will not attract positivity and happiness in the present moment.
People believe they can hide their thoughts and feelings, but in fact, we can see them through people's actions and words. In my work, I use the Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) approach to bring awareness of my patients' automatic negative thoughts so that together, we can challenge them and analyse its consequences to their emotions and self-acceptance.
It is the utmost importance to learn how to catch and deal with our destructive thoughts before they become automatic and rooted in our minds. Once they gain authority over us, they work as poison to our physical and spiritual health.
Consequently, we can appreciate the richness of the holistic approach where mind, body and spirit are always interconnected. Norman Vincent Peale, the author of The Power of Positive Thinking, expresses the effectiveness of positivity to eliminate defeatist attitudes, illness and fear.
Interestingly, Louise Hay, the author of You Can Heal Your Life suggests that all our destructive thoughts and beliefs are fundamentally rooted in the way our parents treated us and she also claims that we handle ourselves in the same manner in which they once treated us. In my opinion, we must remember the power of self-compassion and learn how to be our “best friend”.
As James Allen said in his book As a Man Thinketh: “Every man is where he is by the law of his being; the thoughts which he has built into his character have brought him there, and in the arrangement of his life there is no element of chance, but all is the result of a law which cannot err”
For us to live a healthier and happier life, and not allow negative thoughts to interfere with our day to day, we can use a myriad of psychological interventions such as positive affirmations, meditation or CBT.