Negative Thoughts Destroy Lives

“Change your thoughts and you change your world.”
– More Norman Vincent Peale Quotes

Destructive thoughts, defined, would be those thoughts which are negative in nature.  Those which tell you that you that you aren’t good enough or that the cards are stacked against you.  Destructive thoughts ask, “Why even try?!” and demand, “Life is not fair!”  Destructive, negative thoughts accomplish absolutely nothing but hinder absolutely everything.  A thought like this is like a bad co-worker: They do nothing to help get anything done and get their back up if you suggest they pitch in.  And like bad co-workers, they make more work for you and cause you to think how much easier life would be if they were on… I don’t know… Saturn.

While you can’t put your co-worker on a rocket to Saturn, you can load up destructive thoughts and send them on their way.  If, that is, you want to badly enough.

The problem is, people don’t take negative thoughts seriously enough.  We become so accustomed to thinking negatively that we don’t even realize we’re doing it.  When it comes to doom and gloom thoughts, we all need to practice a little R, R & R:

• Recognize destructive thoughts.
• Realize that we’re the ones in control of our thoughts.
• Run in the opposite direction!

In the classic “How to Get Anything You Want” series of books, Elsie Lincoln Benedict had the following to say about destructive thoughts and “moods:”

The reason why predominantly destructive moods bring destruction to our lives is that our predominant moods automatically set the “gages” and fulfill every requirement for bringing to pass in our lives the destructive thing we are dwelling upon.

A long-cherished mood of any kind sets in motion the very forces that are essential to its materialization in the outer world.

Powerful words! No one in his or her right mind could read these words and not demand more from their thoughts, because as powerful as these words are, thoughts are twice as powerful.  Think about it throughout the day.  How many people have you known who have pretty much brought about the very thing they feared the most in their life?

• How many hypochondriacs have you known who, literally, made themselves sick?
• How many times have you seen people who kept saying they were “depressed” and “sad” only to become the most miserable person in town?
• How many times have you seen someone fixate on feelings of loneliness and self pity so long and so profoundly that they ultimately become more alone than they ever were before.  Oddly enough, people don’t gravitate toward sadness and they run from pity parties like my oldest daughter, Emily, would run from clowns.  (A phobia I’ve never quite understood!)
• How many times have you held yourself back with negative thoughts and nailed your feet in place with thoughts of self-doubt?  I know I, personally, have shoes with nail holes in them!

Hopefully these words will help give you a leg up on destructive  negative thoughts.  Remember to handle them with R, R, & R.  Recognize when they’re creeping into your mind. Realize that YOU are in complete control. Run!

How do you run? Oh, that’s the easy part.  You simply REPLACE the negative thoughts with positive ones.  If the destructive thought says, “You can’t do this!” – rearrange the words, squeeze out the negativity, and say “Of course I can do this!”

“No matter where you go or what you do, you live your entire life within the confines of your head.” – Terry Josephson

If your thoughts are swarming around a legitimate problem, zero in on a viable solution.  If a real solution seems out of reach, ask a few people for their opinion.  Talk it out.  The main thing is to be proactive and positive.  Always remember, if there’s one thing you’re totally and completely in control of it’s your thoughts.  So reign them in and make them work for you.  The ones that won’t?

Give them their ticket to Saturn.