Some days are tougher than others. We aren’t kids anymore. We work hard; we’re overburdened with responsibilities, with the day in and day out chaos of our lives. Maybe it’s just one of those days, where it’s all you can do to get to the end of it. During these times, the dark times, the tough times… it’s easy to get lost in the mayhem and forget who we are. Losing ourselves to the craziness of our lives could be the main cause of our stress. “How” you ask?
Did you know we are what we think? I know, it sounds like a lot of hippy-dippy nonsense, but it isn’t. Did you know our minds are an amazing tool, and we don’t use them nearly enough to maximize all their potential? Did you know one of the most remarkable things about our brain is that it’s unable to tell the difference between real and make-believe?
Take that in for a minute. Our brains cannot decipher between what is real in the physical world, and what is a dream in our head. Let’s say you look in the mirror and tell yourself you’re fat. Your brain now has taken in that information and acknowledges how you feel. If you tell it to yourself enough and believe it to be true, your brain will make it a reality.
It’s what brains do.
On the same note if you, let’s say, visualized that you felt thin and healthy with all the details, and you do it enough to where you can see yourself in your mind’s eye, healthy and wearing those jeans you’ve been trying to fit, your brain wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between it being the truth or your manifestation of the truth. So if it sees and feels those sensations enough to believe it, then it makes that visualization a reality.
Hence, stop thinking like a bitch.
Do you see how we could be sabotaging ourselves and not even realize it? Our brain can’t distinguish between feeling bad about our butt one day, and the truth of reality the next. It hears us say “I am fat” and says to itself “Oh, she wants to be heavier, I need to help her be what she wants to be,” and then our brain makes it happen.
So instead of letting our brains control us, how about we learn to control our brain? Many athletes and other successful people use the same visualization techniques daily to advance their careers. They visualize what they want, how they want it and when it’s going to happen. They see it and believe it. Some people go as far as visualizing checks coming in the mail, or finding a close parking spot at the mall. Visualization can be used for anything. There was one study where a pro-golfer had hurt his arm and couldn’t work on this swing. So every day he visualized his perfect swing, his follow through, how he wanted it to change, his perfect golf score. When the time came where he was able to play again, his game had remarkably improved without him ever stepping on a physical course. It works!
See it, feel it and expect it. Believe that it’s true without a doubt, and it will happen.
An easy way to get started is to leave sticky notes around the house. Are you a person who looks in the mirror and picks themselves apart mentally? Then put a note on that mirror saying something like, “I look healthy and vibrant today,” or “my butt looks amazing in this outfit,” or “I look younger every day.” Just pick the thing you normally bitch about and reverse it to what you would really like to see change. Then put it on a post-it note and repeat it back to yourself over and over as you’re getting ready in the morning. Try to see the change in your mind. Feel how that would feel. Most of all, repeat it over and over. Yes, you’re going to feel silly and think you’ve lost your mind. But after a few weeks of doing that every day, you will see and feel a change, and it’s not going to seem silly anymore.
One thing we always need to remember is that we are perfect, just the way we are. We don’t realize that because we are so busy picking ourselves apart and only focusing on the negatives, we’re missing out on all the good. What if we just dropped it, all of it, everything? All the baggage, all the bad feelings, all the insecurities. Everything negative we have been carrying around this whole time. What if they were gone? What if we could just accept ourselves—flaws and all? What would that feel like? Don’t you think we deserve to find out? I think we do and deep down, so do you.
Imagine that person you want to be, feel it, think it, and it will be you. It all begins with one thought.
Be the change in your life, the light in the darkness you need. Stop thinking like a bitch and embrace the inner you.
Try it, what do you have to lose?
Thank you all for your comments. So many times people don’t get it. They don’t understand that if you can see it in your mind, you can make it come true in life. I think the fact that so many of our FC staff understands and uses this awesome tool on a daily basis, just proves how powerful it is. Our minds can do anything we ask of them, we just have to ask. <3
Be the change in your life, the light in the darkness you need!! This! what a powerful statement Sherri, we have the power to transform ourselves if we really love who we are. Great article Sherri!
Yes!! I hope this piece gets read over and over. When I tell folks, “I saw it” it leaves them uneasy. Folks don’t wanna believe we have that much impact on our paths in life. But we do. In fact, I was doing this before I knew I was doing this. Saw myself writing, in a big way, and now I’m writing! I see my novel a success (and all that goes with it) every day in my minds eye
. Gonna make that happen! Thank you, Sherri, for reminding me to be the light in my darkness. Visualization is powerful! xo!!
I love this. So true. We are what we think. Think happy. Be happy. Thank you for writing.
This is the best thing I’ve read in a long time, SA!! I completely believe in the power of visualization. One of my favorite quotes is the Vonnegut one about how we become what we pretend to be. Thank you for writing and sharing this.