You attract what you think
We’ve all heard it once or twice because it’s one of those cliches you hear. But if you haven’t heard the saying before, the jist is if you think positively, you’re more likely to attract positive outcomes. Conversely, if you think negatively, you attract negative outcomes.
But why exactly is that?
Your thoughts have a lot of power behind them because, without your thoughts, you can’t process all of the information you absorb from your five senses. All of your thoughts have a reaction that triggers the positive and negative emotions you experience. Your mind is constantly scanning your surroundings because our primal instincts are to be aware of possible danger and threat. But in today’s world, we don’t need to scan our surroundings for danger as much because we’re more civilized. However, we’ve shifted our focus from scanning for threats and danger, to scanning for negativity or what could go wrong.
And this, my friends, is how a pessimist is formed.
Now our five senses are constantly scanning for negativity. If you expect something negative or bad to happen, you search for it. When you go searching for negativity, you will find it because it's provoked by your thoughts.
Optimism vs. Pessimism
An optimistic person is someone hopeful and confident about the future or the successful outcome of something, despite any setbacks that come up. These people hold onto hope in the face of life’s challenges. A pessimistic person tends to see the negative aspect of life or they believe that the worst is going to happen. One small inconvenience can lead to a snowball effect of negative emotions which anchors them further into the pessimistic black hole.
But the true difference between an optimistic person and a pessimistic person is their perspective on the world around them. Instead of scanning their surroundings for threats, or what could go wrong, the optimistic person chooses to remain positive and hopeful when faced with adversity.
When you look at this picture, which face do you see looking back at you? Do you see a smiley face or a sad face?
Your perception is your reality because you are the only one in control of your thoughts. So being cognizant of how you absorb all of the information around you as either positive or negative influences every aspect of your life. It impacts the decisions you make, the relationships you make and keep, and your physical, mental, and emotional well-being.
The Key To Optimism
Being optimistic isn't something that comes naturally or so easily since we're programmed to scan for danger, but now more so scan for negativity. Optimism is something that has to be practiced daily to be developed over time. A way to practice this daily is by being grateful. Gratitude refers to being thankful for where you're at that exact point in your life, even if you're just thankful for the small things in life, like just waking up to see another day. By being thankful, you're choosing to see the positivity in that moment and hold onto it.
Even the most optimistic people have bad days and moments when their mood levels are lower than normal. That's because the effects of life's dark side happen to everyone, but as I mentioned earlier, it's all about how you choose to react when adversity happens. You have control over the most powerful tool, your thoughts. Your thoughts control your perception, decisions, and actions.
Now that you understand the idea of you attract what you think, how are you going to use your superpower of thought control?
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