Photo by DanaTentis
Introduction
A lot of us think of our brains as this mysterious organ that has a mind of it’s own. But in reality, it’s just an incredibly complex machine that learns how to do things based on how we use it and what kind of thoughts we give it. If your brain focuses on negative experiences more than positive ones — which is definitely something I’ve done before — then your world will seem like a pretty crappy place! It doesn’t have to be this way though; here are six ways you can use your thoughts to make yourself happier:
Your thoughts are not real
I want to be clear that you can’t control your thoughts. You can only control how much you believe them. Your brain is a thinking machine, and it’s always thinking about something. Most of the time, it’s thinking about things that aren’t true or aren’t important—that’s just how brains work! As soon as your brain starts interpreting reality for you, it’s going to start making mistakes and seeing things that are not real at all. That’s OK—it’s what brains do!
But here’s the thing: The quality of our thoughts determines the quality of our lives. When we spend all day allowing ourselves to think unhealthy thoughts—for example, “I am ugly and stupid” or “I’m never going to find anyone who loves me”—those negative thoughts will make us feel bad (and look ugly). When we replace these unhealthy thoughts with healthy ones—for example, “I am beautiful” or “There are lots of people who love me”—we will feel good (and look great).
The more you believe your thoughts, the stronger they become
The more you believe your thoughts, the stronger they become. The more you believe your thoughts, the more likely you are to act on them. The more you believe your thoughts, the more likely you are to make decisions based on them.
This is true for both positive and negative thoughts because our minds cannot tell the difference between a thought about something good happening and a thought about something bad happening (for example). They just know that if we think about something enough times and if we think about it in certain ways then eventually those things will happen—and if they don’t happen then it must be because someone else interfered with our plans or changed what was going on behind-the-scenes in some way. Your mind isn’t able to distinguish between reality and imagination so all of these things are perceived as equally real experiences even though it may feel like one type feels better than another at times!
The less you believe your thoughts, the weaker they become
To make your thoughts powerful, you have to repeat them over and over. You have to think about what it means for hours on end, day after day. The more you think your thoughts, the more they become true—and this is especially true if you don’t believe in those thoughts at first.
The term “self-fulfilling prophecy” refers specifically to this phenomenon: When people believe strongly in something (like a prediction), even when there is no proof of its validity or justification for their belief, they will act in accordance with that belief; therefore making their prediction come true through their actions and behaviors. If I tell myself that I am stupid every morning when I wake up, then eventually my actions will begin to reflect these beliefs (i.e., I won’t try hard at school because “I’m not smart enough”).
You have thousands of thoughts every single day
You have thousands of thoughts every single day. You might think that means you’re always thinking, but that’s not true. Most of the time when we’re not actively paying attention to our thoughts, they are just background noise, like white noise in a room. It’s there, but you don’t notice it unless something changes.
We do know that the more we pay attention to our thoughts and what is going on inside us (or in front of us), the more aware we become of them as they come up throughout our day—and when we do this consistently over time, eventually this awareness can lead us to become better at controlling our thoughts when necessary for things like setting goals or solving problems.
You think about 70 thousand to 80 thousand thoughts a day
Your thoughts determine your mood and mindset. In fact, you think about 70 to 80 thousand thoughts per day! This means that if you’re having negative thoughts, they can cause stress, anxiety or depression. But don’t worry—there are ways to change the way you think so that it’s more positive and beneficial for your happiness.
“To be happy is to think positively, confidently and optimistically.” – Dr. T.P.Chia
Your brain tries to prove your thoughts right. A lot of times, it doesn’t do a good job of this
It’s important to know that your brain isn’t always trying to help you. It’s biased, and it often makes things worse. The brain is designed to protect you from danger and keep you alive—so it focuses on negative experiences more than positive ones. This is called negativity bias, and it means that:
- Your thoughts aren’t as accurate as they seem;
- You can’t trust your thoughts 100% of the time; and
- You should listen to what other people have to say about their own experiences (and not just yours).
Your brain isn’t designed to give you an accurate reflection of reality — it’s designed to protect you from danger and keep you alive — so it focuses on negative experiences more than positive ones
The brain isn’t a camera, it’s more like a kaleidoscope. It takes in information from the outside world and distorts it to make sense of it. The brain is biased to focus on negative experiences because our ancestors needed this skill to survive — they had to be hyper-aware of signs of danger or food sources so they could respond quickly when they were needed. If a bear was wandering around you’d better believe your brain would notice that before noticing anything else!
So when you’re in an argument with someone who disagrees with you, ask yourself: “Are they right?” And if the answer is yes (as it often will be), just consider that possibility without feeling threatened by it or needing them to acknowledge their error as well as yours (which will never happen). If someone criticizes something about your appearance, ask yourself whether there’s any truth in what they said and then accept their observation for what it is: one person’s opinion about how another person looks at themself.
And finally…
If you think you’re bad at everything, your brain will try to find evidence that proves this true. It will show you the things you’ve failed at and hide the things that didn’t turn out so well for other people too
If you think you’re bad at everything, your brain will try to find evidence that proves this true. It will show you the things you’ve failed at and hide the things that didn’t turn out so well for other people too.
Remember how we talked about how our brains are wired to focus on negative experiences? The same is true for our egos. When faced with a situation where we believe we’ve failed or messed up, our brains are quick to point out all of those times when things could have gone better—even if they didn’t actually go badly in any way. They just want us to think of ourselves as good enough and successful, so they’ll do whatever it takes to protect us from danger (i.e., looking bad).
This is a survival tactic; if we knew we weren’t as capable as other mammals in our environment, we would lose an evolutionary edge because we’d be less likely to survive some life-threatening situations. Instead, our brains are programmed to convince us that we’re special, unique and deserve to take care of ourselves first above anyone else.
The brain is a survival tool. It’s an organ that focuses on negative experiences more than it does positive ones, because it’s our job as humans to survive in a world that can be dangerous and unpredictable.
We’re all programmed to believe in ourselves and be confident in our abilities—it helps us get through hard times when we know we can handle them. However, this also means that the brain will often convince you that you’re better than other people around you, or worse off than they are—both of which will prevent you from connecting with others on a deeper level because their lives may seem better or worse than yours.
“We become what we think about.” – Earl Nightingale
Conclusion
I hope you’ve learned something new about how your brain works, and that this knowledge will help you in your journey towards happiness. Remember not to take yourself too seriously when it comes to thoughts — they’re just thoughts after all!
The following is a transcript and video for “The Happiness of Your Life Depends on the Quality of Your Thoughts” – Marcus Aurelius Meditations
The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts that is what Marcus Aurelius one of the most build stoic philosophers and the emperor of the Roman Empire said in his meditations. The state of our body depends upon the food we eat and how we exercise. The state of our mind depends upon the thoughts and emotions that occupy within our headspace. Thinking is just another form of nutrition. It should tell you that what you consume, the energy you take in directly determines what you produce what you put out how you’re going to feel and what you can accomplish. And I’m not just talking about food or thoughts.
The same applies to everything you expose yourself to…other people, the books you read, and the greater vision you choose to conceive. When you realize that you have power over your mind not outside events then you will find strength. Another one of these amazing as thought-provoking quotes. Can our thoughts really affect our life that immensely? Of Course… because whatever we focus on grows and if we focus on the things that lay outside of our control then we will be inevitably controlled by them. If however, we want to focus on the things that lie inside our control then we will be the ones who are in control.
Every thought we experience is there because of causality that is caused by some sort of a phenomenon or an event before we start dancing right now or do something else crazy. Then we will think like what a weirdo… challenge accepted.
But… I digress for another example if you were to get a text message from our friends – what you guys should do tonight – then you probably start thinking about some options so every thought has its course but every thought also has its effect. The thoughts we have will vary our body and mind according to the energy that they provide us with. Our subconscious mind works like a vicious feedback loop machine whatever we put in is what we get out.
The thought patterns we have will be expressed in our outside life as well. When I’m talking about vibration energy am referring to things that are based on purely surviving and creating a duality between you and the world. Anger, self pity, fear, and anxiety are all recreating those same emotions. Hate breeds more hate. If we were to experience emotions of love, compassion, excitement, and enthusiasm that will begin to have similar thoughts on autopilot as well,
The key is to remember that everything external lies outside of us is not in our control. But the determining factor that binds it all together where the actual thought process occurs and where it will lead onward from there is seated in our perception of the event. We can choose how to perceive the things that have happened to us thus the source we experience are also within our control.
Let’s say you’re exercising hard you’re gasping for air and are basically breathless on the physiological level you trigger the fight-or-flight response which will make your body think that it’s about to die. You’ll experience a severe panic attack because it’s a survival situation if however you were to realize that you’re not actually running away from lions and that you’re simply giving yourself a healthy dose of movement then you will be able to acknowledge it accept it and be mindful of your reaction. You can then choose to start breathing more calmly and not be overtaken by fear or anxiety.
The applies to everything else that happens to you as well. You can choose to view failure either as something dreadful that causes misery or you can choose to perceive it as feedback that gives you invaluable lessons. For future reference, you can choose to view the challenges you face as either impediments that caused you suffering or you can choose to perceive them as the stepping stone to your success.
Marcus also said the soul becomes dyed with the color of its thoughts so the quality of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts!
Author: Bliss
Dedicated to making a positive difference for people, animals, and this beautiful planet!
