Thinking Positively – Day 1
It has been a couple of years since I’ve initiated a long-term experiment of any kind. I think the last one was when I published daily for a year.
I began that experiment just as I was about to burn out. I’d committed to the process, though, so I learned from my over-caffeinated mistakes, and stayed the course even though I had a good six months of recovery ahead of me before I started feeling normal again.
The blogging probably helped me process some things I needed to along the way.
As I begin this 90-day experiment, it’s a little like I’m working my way out of a burnout, but a burnout of a decidedly different kind. How I feel right now is a bit like how I felt before leaving for Japan in 2017 – nauseous, exhausted, and emotionally depleted.
(It’s nice to know there’s nothing new under the sun.)
This showed up for me even though I’ve been doing all the right things this year – meditating, working out, getting massages, eating healthy… to be fair, some of these habits did fall in and out of fashion at times.
My only explanation for what I’ve been experiencing in the last few weeks is underlying exhaustion. Something that was stewing beneath the surface that I wasn’t aware of.
(I jokingly called it post-lockdown stress disorder, though there might be some truth to that.)
It’s clear I’m still on the path of recovery, though I feel I can at least see the light at the end of the tunnel now.
And so, I’m ready to embrace a new experiment, one where I intentionally and deliberately choose my inputs as opposed to taking in the same things I always do and expecting to reap greatness.
Why?
I watched this video yesterday, and it got me thinking…
If everything I read, listen to, or watch is affecting what I’m manifesting, then I’m not exactly on the track I want to be on. It’s time for a bit of a change, and it’s time for a bit of a detox too, if you will.
Importantly, I wanted to start this experiment to:
- Love and forgive myself, and my past, as I never have before.
- Love and forgive others as I never have before.
- Love God as I never have before.
If I focus on these fundamentals, it’s more than likely that I will manifest amazing things as a byproduct. But that’s not why I’m doing this. I’m doing this because lately I’ve been calling into my life things I don’t want. Nothing disastrous, but nothing desired either.
It has been said that the secret of your future is hidden in your routine. So, it’s my hypothesis that there are things in my routine that aren’t working, and if I make a few simple shifts, I will get myself back on a better track.
What Are the Rules?
- I’m allowed to read books, listen to podcasts, or watch videos. But I must intentionally choose things that are uplifting, inspirational, or informative. No fluffy entertainment, and nothing that is fear-based. This is the crux of the experiment.
- Meditate three times per week for at least a total of 60 minutes. I currently meditate closer to 90 minutes per day, so this should not be a struggle.
- I’m not going to force myself to blog daily about the experiment, though I’m sure I will come quite close in the end.
- No porn (definition: anything that turns you on). Some say porn is harmless, others say it’s harmful, and there are plenty of opinions of grey in between. I don’t know either way, but I don’t think addictive behaviors are going to support clear, positive thinking, so I’m abstaining.
But Positive Thinking Doesn’t Work, does it?
For the purposes of this experiment, let’s accept the premise that what you’re thinking about is always manifesting in some way, shape, or form.
This doesn’t necessarily mean that the exact thing you’re thinking about is manifesting. Rather, you’re manifesting the feeling that accompanies the thought.
Let’s say you were annoyed about getting a headache yesterday. You don’t get a headache today, but that feeling of annoyance was significant enough that it brought in more things to be annoyed about today. Maybe you spill your delicious, healthy green smoothie all over the carpet, as an example.
The thing is events themselves are neutral and we can respond to them as we choose. We can laugh about the spilt smoothie. We can become exasperated at the spilt smoothie. We can punch the wall and injure our hand.
So, besides being intentional about inputs, this experiment is also about choosing a response as life shows up.
I know I called this the “Thinking Positively” experiment, but it’s a simplistic (and possibly even crude) title.
The experiment is more so about becoming aware of one’s thoughts and feelings, choosing what to feel, and filling one’s mind with positive inputs.
Onwards & Upwards
Follow along with me if you’d like to see what happens next.
