Pick Your Thoughts Like You Pick Your Outfits

We live in a world that offers us an unending menu of choices; from fast foods to fast relationships – McDonald’s to Match.com! Yet, it is the rare person that is as picky about their thoughts as they are about the clothes they wear.

Think about it, all day long, there is an incessant stream of thoughts crisscrossing the crowded by-ways of our mind. Some thoughts taunt us with: “how could you?” while others cheer us on with an “I did it!” Every one of our thoughts causes us to feel good or bad. And since we think over 70,000 thoughts per day, how we feel about ourselves, and others, is literally at the mercy of our thoughts.

By now, every person on this planet knows that our thoughts create our reality.  Medical studies have concluded that a positive attitude is everything, when it comes to recovering from surgery, and the majority of folks who do not recover from their surgery were known to think pessimistically about their outcome. The good news is that we don’t have to wait to become sick in order to discover that our thoughts are powerful.

Are you aware that every negative thought we believe has an opposite that can be equally as true? The thought ‘I am not good at this’ can tend to make us feel worse about ourselves, while ‘I am good at that’ allows us to feel better. The challenge here is to become aware of the habitual thoughts that self-sabotage our desire to feel positive and confident.

Here’s a quick game that, when deliberately played, will help us identify the thoughts that cause us to feel optimistic and upbeat or pessimistic like a Debbie-downer.  For one week, write down the thoughts you think, about yourself and others, when you are feeling your best. Then, do the opposite and write the thoughts you think, about yourself and others, when you are feeling down, or upset. Then compare the two lists, and you will see that you have many positive and negative thoughts strewn all over your head.

And just as it is easier to find the perfect outfit, in a well-organized closet, when you deliberately organize your thoughts you can easily pick the ones that will make you feel as good on the inside as you decide to look on the outside.

There is nothing more attractive than a person who thinks the best of themselves and others. So before you walk out the door for a date with your lover or your BFF, pick the outfit and the thoughts that are guaranteed to make you feel the absolute best about yourself!