What is on your mind right now? What thoughts did you dwell on this week? What lingers in your mind when it wanders?
These are questions that become very important if you believe this quote from Buddha, “The Mind is everything. What you think you become.” As someone that works hard to create a positive life for myself and my family, I have to remind myself to rework my thoughts and strive to stop dwelling on the “noise”, and the negative and start focusing on positive thoughts.
My sister-in-law is a very positive person. She is intelligent, bubbly, funny and always has a smile on her face. Recently someone referred to her as “Pollyanna” and she did not know the reference. As kids, my sister and I loved the Disney Pollyanna movie starring Haley Mills. Even though the movie came out in 1960, the lessons this young girl brings to a town are still relevant and important in today’s world. The “game” she plays requires you to come up with something positive about each situation even if it is horrible. I think we should have our news casters use this same technique when delivering the news.
Can’t you just imagine Matt Lauer, saying “The big story in the news today is that the unemployment rate has gone up to 13%, but on a positive note, that means there are more people available to do volunteer work.” Ok, well I’m not as good at the game as Haley Mills was but you get the idea.
I know this won’t happen, but guess what? You can control your mind and play the “game” turning your thoughts from negative to positive. One way to do this is to write down three positive things each night before you go to bed that happened that today. This will focus your mind on gratitude and help you to displace those thoughts that are worrying you. Then in the morning, greet each day with positive thoughts and joy that you have a new day, a blank sheet to start with and to make things happen. This approach will help you to focus on positive thoughts and help you create the outcome you desire.
Many companies struggle with low morale among employees. Employees are fearful they will lose their jobs or that the company will go out of business. Do you spend time in your company focused on the issues and the problems? How much time do you communicate when something good happens? Maybe you need a little bit more Pollyanna at work so your employees can see the good things happening.
Are you a Pollyanna? Do you think that taking these steps at work, with your family or just in your own mind can really help you to create a better life? I do. Give it a try.
If you have small children, I invite you to watch Pollyanna with them and plant those seeds for them.