Taking Positive Thinking to the Next Level

So, I finished Dr. Cury's book and am totally blown away with the concept of training your mind to think correctly. I have always thought it possible to train your mind but never really knew how. And then to think you can think correctly and be happier.

Dr. Cury's theory is that we must "think correctly" in order to live a happy and productive life. What does he mean? That was a bit difficult to decipher, but in the end, I came to the conclusion that it is not allowing ourselves to dwell on the negative aspects of our lives, to not allow our emotions to rule our tongues, and to not allow our minds to convince us that we cannot accomplish something.

He lists 12 principles that if incorporated will help you to think correctly. Those princples are:
1. Be the author of your own story.
2. Direct your thoughts
3. Manage your emotions
4. Protect your memory
5. Learn to listen and dialogue
6. Learn the art of self-dialogue
7. Contemplate beauty
8. Unleash creativity
9. Be restored in your sleep
10. Live an enterprising lifestyle
11. Think Existentially
12. Turn life into a celebration

In the introduction, Dr. Cury recommends taking a week per chapter and incorporating that principle into your thinking throughout the entire week. Each prinicple builds on the previous principle and must be performed in order (according to him.) I found that standing alone each has a certain value. Thus far, I can say that I see the beauty in each moment so much easier than before and am finding more joy in each day. I am finding it easier to forgive and yes, forget.

So, I am anxious to take his message of "thinking correctly" to the next level. I am going to spend the next 12 weeks learning each principle and incorporating them into my daily thinking.

In April, I will post my progess on learning how to "think correctly." If anyone else out there has read or is reading his book and would like to take up the same challenge, leave a comment.

Goals

In the comments to my previous post, Becky wrote: "I don't make "new year" resolutions, but I do ever-so-often make goals for myself."

Becky is so right. We cannot go through life without goals. If we don't have goals, we have no purpose to fulfill. Once we reach a goal, we should always set new ones. Goals are different from resolutions. Yesterday, while writing about resolutions I actually looked up the definition to resolution. It is defined as "a resolve or determination: to make a firm resolution to do something." Goal is defined as "the result or achievement toward which effort is directed; aim; end; the terminal point in a race."

It is one thing to resolve to run a race; it is another to show up and actually run the race. A resolution is your decision to run the race, and the goal is actually running toward the finish line. When setting a goal, we set steps to take to reach that goal and with each step we get closer to that finish line.

Setting goals is something that I have not done since Snugglebug was born 10 1/2 months ago. But I am determined to return to my goal-setting mind-set. I am still working on my introspection for 2009, but have a few goals already for this year.

Goals for 2009:
1. Read more for myself and my son (I already signed up for one challenge at Young Readers)
2. Eat Healthy (I did before Snugglebug was born and fell off the wagon after)
3. Participate in Oprah's Clean-up Your Messy House and get my house clean again
4. Continue Becky's Actually Read Through the Bible Challenge

Thanks for the comment Becky!

New Year's Resolutions

I don't really do resolutions. I feel they are meant to be forgotten. Instead, I look at the new year more as a time to refocus my energies, to redefine myself, and to reshape my future.

I believe we should stop ever so often and take a deep introspective look at ourselves. We shouldn't use that time to chastise or demean ourselves for being who we have become, but honestly take note of that being. If we don't take the time to look at ourselves honestly, we lose track of who we are. We become lost in the vast chasm of humanity. That is to say we don't know who we are anymore than we know a total stranger.

So, in January I focus on prayer, Bible study, and my heart and soul. I take a deep look and examine the person I have become over the last year. Is it someone I like? Would I be friends with the person I have become? Am I happy on the inside or do I feel lost? What makes me happiest? What makes me depressed?

The last two questions seem rather pointless, but are very telling. One year, I discovered that making other people happy made me happiest only to realize that I wasn't happy at all. I had spent so much time the previous year making other people happy that I was completely lost and depressed. I had lost myself in the crowd. I realized that being a "yes" person wasn't exactly the best way to live life.

Another year, after reading a book whose title I have since forgotten, I made a list of "danger zones." These were things that reminded me that I needed to stop, slow down, and take a moment to appreciate life. I had raced through the year without acknowledging the blooming roses, the falling leaves, or the beauty that had passed me by.

This year as I reflect, I am reading Traveling Light by Max Lucado, and Think and Make It Happen by Dr. Augusto Cury. I will share about both books when I am finished reading them. I am also completing a complete introspection. Asking those tough questions that I mentioned above. This has been a great year of change for me. I went from working to staying at home, from free to come and go to being a full-time mom. It has been quite a year and will be quite a year next year.