Superthoughts

As I delve more and more into the world of mindfulness and the importance of self-care, I believe more and more in the power of our thoughts as a means to improve the quality of our lives. Several years ago, I was constantly stressed, overwhelmed with my workload and rarely took any time to eat, drink or relax properly. Certainly, I didn’t give much thought to self-care (isn’t that a bit pretentious, I used to think), and definitely I believed every thought that I had was true. In fact, research shows that we have around 60,000 thoughts a day and most of them are negative thoughts. So, no wonder I was constantly stressed and often down in the dumps! I was accepting at face value, that my thoughts were true. If I started thinking “I’m really unhappy at the moment”, I felt that all day, every day for a time, but never had the space to really question or consider whether this was actually true. Just by thinking I was unhappy; did that really mean you are?

Over the past six months, I’ve prioritised myself in a way I’ve never done before. I’m still a workaholic but I’m doing more of the things I love now. Daily yoga has literally changed my life – more about that in another blog perhaps, my compliment and gratitude journal is a complete godsend to my awareness of positive things throughout my day. But I’ve probably most importantly, paid more attention to the thoughts that run through my mind. I love thoughts. I love how random they can be. I love how they run away from you. I’m a massive daydreamer; I can be quiet at times, but there’s always a story of some kind going on in my head. I’m sure there are lots of you like this out there. Your thoughts make you who you are. Everything starts with a thought. It doesn’t start with a word or an action. We think – we act. This makes our thoughts so important. You must give time to your thoughts; whether that’s to honour them or to challenge them. If you succumb daily to your negative thoughts, then you’re more likely to feel negative. I’m not saying ignore them; just consider and challenge them. If you constantly think about the past or the future, you’re not doing yourself any favours either. The past, the future, it’s mostly out of your control. The only thing that really matters is the present. It’s the only thing you really have.

I am committed to my own happiness. Not tomorrow but today. That starts with my thoughts. And in turn, that has a knock-on effect on my success to. It’s not just applicable to my personal life. On 1st January, I started thinking about a new class I was opening (I was in fact opening two new classes, but my thoughts focused mostly on one of those classes). I dedicated time to thinking positively about filling that new class with new students. I gently brushed away my negative thoughts about failing to find students or not having enough time to do it properly, and low and beyond that class is really healthy in numbers and everything is ready for its opening. I feel great! Interesting the second class that I didn’t give time to isn’t ready to open as I don’t have enough students. I don’t feel upset about that, I only feel that I’ve proven my argument. That class will open once I start thinking positively about opening it.

Try it this week. Set yourself a positive thought pattern about something and see what happens. A small improvement in the quality of your thoughts could lead to something remarkable.