Keep Calm and Think Positive: What You Focus on Expands

Did you ever notice how life seems to go easier for people who have a positive attitude? This is not a coincidence. By focusing on the positive, they are attracting positive things to themselves. They envision things going well and the Universe conspires to reflect positivity back. Hard to believe? Read on to learn how positive energy works.

Positive Thinking and the Universe

Metaphysics tells us that we are energetic beings, living within an energetic field of infinite possibilities. There is a vibration of goodness emanating from, call it what you will, the Universe, God, a Higher Power. When we plug into that field of energy and goodness, we align ourselves to it. So how do we make that connection?

The truth about positive thinking and the subconscious mind is that our thoughts and feelings create energetic vibrations which attract like vibrations. When our thoughts and feelings are consciously or unconsciously vibrating with positivity, those vibrations create the life we are living. Like attracts like. Focusing on positive thoughts expands positive potential.

As Advisor Tina Lee explains,

“Thoughts shape our world. There’ve been tons of studies and tests in this area of thinking, proving that thoughts affect physical things.

 I stress to all my clients that positive thoughts create opportunities for bringing positive things into your life. Negative thoughts and fears bring more negativity and more disasters into your life. So, remember: if you can change your mind, you can change your world because your world is greatly affected by your state of mind. “

Does Thinking Positive Really Work?

You've heard the skeptics out there, thinking this sounds too easy. Maybe you're one of them. It’s far easier to chalk up the negative things that happen to fate, randomness, or the actions of others. When we do this, we take the position of victim, and the more we focus on what’s broken, the more broken we feel.

Psychic Serenity recounts the story of a friend who had been struggling with work for months. 

“I told him he had to stop thinking about all of the negative things and let go to allow change to take place. I told him to write down all the things bothering him. Then I told him to write down solutions for each thing. He smirked at me and then reluctantly wrote his problems, solutions, and needs down on paper. He looked relieved when he saw there actually were solutions. He promised to say a prayer and go to work mindful of thinking positive and expecting good. He thought about talking to his boss but much to his surprise, within one week everything on his list was addressed, and he got a raise!”

He realized for months prior all he could think of was how unfair things were. He had been so angry he saw no way out, thinking only of the negative impact his situation was having on his life and family. His narrow focus kept his thinking limited and him in misery. He is still amazed at how quickly things turned around. Without speaking a word to his boss or co-workers, his problems were solved. Each positive thing on his list manifested itself. He jokes now that he is very cautious of what he says and thinks.

Think about it.

We wake up in the morning and “get up on the wrong side of the bed.” From that point on negative, heavy thoughts fill our minds. We are irritable and cranky. Everything seems like it is going to be a bad day. Our minds start to ruminate over things that we never worried about before. 

But guess what? You can change all of that with a positive attitude.

Our minds are controlled by our thoughts, which in turn control our feelings. Many people make the mistake of thinking it is the other way around, that feelings come first, and thoughts come after. Rather than get caught up in a chicken and egg scenario, try this experiment.

When you feel blah or blue, try to think of something that makes you happy. Even if it is just for a minute, picture something that will bring a smile to your face and hold that thought. Allow yourself to smile as you think about it. Your feelings will shift, and your thoughts will be filled with happiness, not sadness.

Our minds are powerful. We can look at any bad situation and turn it into a positive one. No matter how bad it may seem there is always something positive in all situations. You control your thoughts and feelings; they don’t control you! 

A Positive Thinking Experiment

A famous experiment by the scientist Dr. Masaru Emoto measured the effect of positive and negative thinking on water, a building block for all of life. Water samples were subject to either positive or negative words, prayers, music, and meditation, then frozen and examined. The crystals subject to positive thoughts were clear and beautifully formed, while the crystals subject to negative thoughts formed holes and fissures.

Psychic Source Advisor Tina Lee offers a similar experiment to demonstrate the power of positive thinking. Here’s how to do it in your own home. 

1. Take 2 cups of cooked rice and two clear containers with lids. Put a cup of rice in each container.
2. Using a marker, write positive words on the outside of one container, such as: good rice, healthy rice, yummy rice.
3. On the other container, write negative words like nasty rice, yucky rice, bad rice.
4. Put both on a shelf.
5. Every day for five days spend just five minutes focusing negative thoughts on the negative container of rice and positive thought on the positive container of rice.
6. In five days, you’ll see that the rice in the negative container is rotting by now, but the other rice looks much better.

Examples of Changing Negative Thoughts to Positive

Try this as a word game with friends or alone. Anytime a negative thought comes into your mind, practice turning it into a positive thought. With enough practice, you can turn even the darkest of situations into something good. Be creative. Have fun thinking big and envisioning all the endless possibilities for your happiness.

Negative: I’m not <fit, good-looking, witty, smart, etc.> enough to attract <person of interest>. Positive: I’m an amazing person who attracts love into my life.

Negative: I'm sad because it's raining all week. Positive: I'm happy because I have the prettiest flowers on the block.

Negative: I’m broke. I wish I had more money to spend on the things I want. No matter what I do I can’t get ahead. Positive: There is so much richness and abundance in my life! I’m grateful for all that I have.

The problem is that when you think broken thoughts, you feel hopeless and depleted. You stress about it. You work long hours. You read articles about how to get rich. You make the experience of being broke and trying to get ‘not broke’ your world. Our thinking creates our reality, and our minds seek confirmation of that reality by looking for examples to justify our thinking. It’s a negative feedback loop. We become locked into a negative thinking mindset, in which our negative thoughts become reality – a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Now consider how positive energy works. We devote our minds to thinking about all that we have, that we’re grateful for. We allow ourselves to feel rich and abundant, and while we don’t spend recklessly, we allow ourselves an occasional indulgence. When we live with a positive mindset of wealth, confirmation bias sets to work and we begin to see it and attract more of it. The more energy we invest; the more we allow positive thoughts to stir up feelings of excitement and gratitude, the faster we attract.

What You Think About Expands

Here’s the challenge: No matter how good we get at turning negative thoughts to positive, inevitably we get distracted. Or impatient. Or conflicted. Our mind begins to wander back to the familiar terrain of what’s wrong instead of what’s right. Confirmation bias sets in, and we begin to see proof of what’s wrong.

We become tired of waiting for good to materialize. Our thoughts lose focus, and the coherence of our thoughts breaks down. While we’re hoping for the best, we’re preparing for the worst. We’ve lost our focus. And that is exactly what expands – the feeling of being lost, frustrated, conflicted. Wanting instead of having.

As long as we remain in the rut, our opposing thoughts remain locked in a battle. If it seems that positive thinking doesn’t work, then there is likely an even bigger thought that is getting in the way.

Self-Talk and Positivity

The thing that separates a person that views the glass as half empty versus the person that sees it as half full stems from their point of view. A negative person will see positive things in their life as a fluke where a positive person will believe that they deserve good things. 

“The determining factor as to whether or not you are a positive person is the way that you speak to yourself,” notes intuitive Advisor Summer. “We have so much potential to utilize our own internal dialog in such a way that we could always feel supported, regardless of who is around us or what the situation is.”

Internal dialog reflects our thoughts, encouragements, support, fears, insecurities, and more. Just like talking with a good friend, we are in charge of at least half of the conversation and that is all we need to turn it around. Here are some tips for maintaining a positive inner dialog.

Consciously eliminate as much negativity and drama as possible in life.

Have you noticed that internal dialog can mimic the doom of the news, gossip at work, and negativity found on the Internet? The mind is much like our physical body. We need healthy stuff going in to experience a state of health as a baseline. Begin to surround yourself with positive energy. This can be anything from the people you surround yourself with to the activities that you are involved in. Make sure to take at least one hour a day to do something that brings you happiness. The more positive you are the more positive things will come into your life. 

Don't be afraid to talk back to that little voice who says mean things.

Like any mean or angry person, when you ignore the inner voice, it just gets louder. When you argue with it, it also gets louder. Instead of arguing or ignoring your negative self-talk, try asking that negative part questions.

For example, when your voice says something like "you can't do anything right!", consciously reply with a question, like "is that true?" It changes the dialog and now you can almost always hear the dialog say: “No... it's not true, I'm just scared.” You get the picture here. Work with yourself rather than against yourself. You can find more ideas about how to do this practice by reading The Work by Byron Katie. 

Recognize Triggers and Patterns

Recognize your thought patterns and what triggers them. If you're an introvert who struggles in social settings, don't run the "I'm not good at making friends" rhetoric. Disrupt these thoughts with new ones. Focus on a positive and change the thought to, "I have a few close friends who are always there for me." Consciously work to get over your fears so that you can live life fully.

Break the Habit of Complaining

Complaining can become a habit. Venting can release pent-up frustration. However, keep it up for long enough and you'll carve a negativity groove in your brain. The good news is you can retrain your brain. Become aware of how many times a day you complain. Next, make a decision to stop complaining for 30 days. Instead, every day list things you're grateful for. By the end of that month, you'll be well on your way to a positive mindset. You'll also realize how many things you have to be grateful for. 

Practice Self-Compassion

Many of us are experts at self-flagellation. We beat ourselves up at the slightest hint of failure. If we cheat on a diet, we chastise ourselves for having no willpower to lose weight. Self-criticism destroys our belief that we can overcome challenges and succeed. It's ultimately self-defeating. After all, why bother trying when you already know you're going to fail? Choose to be kind to yourself. So you slipped up on the diet yesterday, but you can do better today. Accept that you are human and will make mistakes. Forgive yourself and move on. 

Help Others

Chronic negativity often results from being self-absorbed. It's all about our problems. The more we dwell on ourselves, the more fuel it adds to the negativity fire. It's a vicious cycle. By obsessing about what's wrong in our lives, we lose perspective. The best way to snap out of it is to focus on others. Volunteer at a soup kitchen, a children's home, or a homeless shelter. Do you know someone in need who you can help? Very quickly, you'll realize that your problems pale in comparison to others.

Remember, there is a difference between a bad patch and a negativity cycle. A bad patch is temporary, and they come and go at various times in our lives. It's normal to feel down during these times. A negativity cycle is a long-term spiral that will keep you trapped if you don't break out of it.

Positive thinking takes practice. 

Make sure to catch those negative thoughts and turn them around to be positive ones. Invite positive energy into your life and rid yourself of things that bring you negativity. The energy that you put out into the world is what you will receive in your life.

To have positive things happen you must first learn to believe that they are possible. Begin to meditate and center yourself. Allow yourself to open to the idea that things can improve and begin to go well for you. 

How To Think Positive in a Negative Situation

“Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.” - Victor Frankl

A bad situation tries to rob our number one defense: our cool heads. If we immediately blow up when something goes wrong, we've killed your chances of turning it into something good. One of the most effective practices for maintaining a positive mindset is to deliberately slow down the movement from thought to feeling long enough to interrupt our auto-pilot. We can attach multiple thoughts or meanings to any given situation, but if we are reacting without thinking, we miss our opportunity to make a choice.

• Learn Your Lessons. One of the best ways to shift into positive thinking in a negative situation is to learn a lesson from your experience. No, it won't change what happened. But it will arm you for future trials. What could you have done differently? How has this experience helped you to grow? All of life presents us with learning opportunities, but it's up to us to get the message.

• Maintain a Positive Attitude. Your attitude has more to do with the outcome of a situation than anything else. People with a positive attitude tend to get more help from others and see the silver linings in those dark clouds.

• Allow Yourself Adjustment Time. Never expect things to be perfect right after a major life setback. Give yourself some time to grasp what's happened and allow yourself to heal.

Sure, you need to smile, but you can let yourself take a break, even if it's to soak in a bubble bath or read an inspirational book. Let time do what it does best: heal.

• Tackle the Most Important Issues. When something bad happens, it tends to overwhelm us. Instead of thinking, "there are a million things to do!" step back and identify the truly important ones. Let the other issues go until you've dealt with the serious ones.

• Count the Positives. After a loss or setback, make a list of all the good things in your life. Do you still have a healthy, supportive network of family or friends? Have you kept your job? Do you still have your health? Whatever good you find, write down and meditate on these things every day. It will be your light in the midst of darkness.

If things become overwhelming and you fear you're not able to cope, never feel guilty about seeking help. Even the strongest among us needs a shoulder from time to time. Speak with a trusted friend or seek help from an empathic psychic or professional counselor.

Meditation and Positive Thinking

Psychic Serena is a yoga teacher and practicing Buddhist. She offers this guidance for gently quieting and dispelling negative thoughts by focusing on your breath, the light and positivity.

“The first thing I do is sit down, and drop my shoulders, and breathe. Not just a breathing in and out, but pretending I have a feather under my nose and breathing in/out making sure that the feather does not move. That is a pretend feather. Slowly, as I start to control my breathing, my thoughts fall in line. Breathing in, counting one-two, then breathing out, one-two, then STOP. You will notice a calming of the mind. Before you start to breathe in again, count in your mind, (one thousand two thousand) and then start over. After three rounds of this, you will see how your thoughts are not so powerful.”

Turn away from the darkness and feel the light on your face. It helps to remember that for every negative there is a positive. For every thought and action, there are opposite and equal reactions.

Look at your left palm, really stare at it, and put all the negativity you are feeling about a situation into it, with words, count out loud: i.e. angry, deceived, liar, mad, furious, etc. then turn your face to your right palm, and with the same intention, put in words that emit love, joy, happiness, trust, peace, powerful, energetic, joy, laughter, prosperity, etc. then CLAP THE TWO HANDS TOGETHER, SO THEY ARE IN PRAYER POSITION UNDER YOUR CHIN.

With the two thumbs on your chest, pivot, or turn the closed hands towards the floor, as if all the energy in the hands, still clasped together, are stuck together and the positive is leading into the negative. As you turn the hands down towards the floor, imagine the negative energy dropping out of your hands, onto the floor…that will take about 40-60 seconds. During this exercise you will continue to breathe to be able to transmute the negative, poison into medicine, into positive, as you pivot your hands back under your chin, I promise you will feel a lightness that you never felt before you started this exercise.

Now, this is the MOST IMPORTANT PART…wait a minute for your entire soul to provide your system to change energy. As your start to feel the energy changing, open up your hands, and shake them out fast, and then go and wash your hands.

You can do this at a traffic light, (it goes fast), and even standing in line at the grocery store. The more you do it, the better it goes.

Power Affirmations: The Secret to Positive Thinking

Positive affirmations are things you say and do to make yourself feel better. They heal your body from the inside out by targeting your mind. Everything else has a trickle effect. If you're happy on a subconscious level, the rest of your body follows suit, and you feel healthier. Here are three ways to implement positive affirmations into your life.

Hang Positive Affirmations Around Your Home

The best way to keep your mind positive if to give yourself constant reminders. Come up with a list of positive affirmations and hang them around your home and at work. Make sure to put them in places that you look all the time. For instance, your bathroom mirror is the perfect place to hang positive affirmations because you look there first thing in the morning as you’re getting ready for the day.

Repeat Positive Affirmations to Yourself

Another way to use positive affirmations is to repeat them to yourself when you feel discouraged. Use the same positive affirmation and say it until you start feeling better. This usually takes at least three times. If you have a go-to phrase in your mind when you’re feeling sad, you can more easily turn your thoughts into happy thoughts. And, when you're happy, it's easier for your body to be healthy.

Choose Friends Who Also Use Positive Affirmations

When people around you are negative, their thoughts can rub off on you. That’s why you should surround yourself with happy people who use positive affirmations, too. They can show you what works best and help you be happy. Implement positive affirmations into every part of your life — friends, family, work, school, and play.

How to Start a Day with Positive Thinking

Starting your day with positive intentions is easier than you might think. Here are seven ways to feel a lust for life from the moment you wake up.

• Plan Your Days. Spend some time in the evening to plan the next day. Each day starts off easy if you know what you intend to do when you wake up. Laying out clothes and anything else you need will also help your mornings go smoothly and instill a positive mindset.
• Celebrate Your Achievements. As well as planning out tomorrow, it also helps if you give some thought to today’s successes. Write down or make a mental note of at least three things you have accomplished during the day. Recognizing your achievements, no matter how small, will help you sleep better and wake up ready to enjoy more of the same.
• Get Enough Sleep. Getting out of bed in the morning without having enjoyed enough sleep is an easy way to start your day on a bad note. It’s hard to feel positive when you’re still exhausted. The National Sleep Foundation recommends that adults from 26 to 64 years oltriggersd need between seven and nine hours of sleep each night.
• Give Yourself Time to Wake Up. Few people can say they spring out of bed at the first sound of the birds. Setting your alarm a little earlier than you need to get up gives you a chance to mentally prepare yourself for the day ahead. Don’t use it as an excuse to hit snooze on your alarm clock. Instead, use the time to meditate, listen to music, or recite a motivational mantra.
• Enjoy Breakfast. It is often said that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, so make sure you enjoy it. Choosing a healthy option for your morning meal will help put you in the right frame of mind, as will drinking plenty of water. A cup of your favorite coffee won’t hurt either.
• Exercise in the Morning. It’s easy to put off exercising until later in the day, yet all too often it ends up being put off indefinitely as a result. The benefits of working out in the morning include improved productivity, a boosted metabolism, and a better diet. Enjoying those benefits early on should make you feel positive about your coming day.
• Seek Support. The demands of modern life make it fairly easy to slip into negative thinking. If there is something troubling you, seek support from friends. If you would rather speak to someone you don’t know, who can act as an objective sounding board and positive thinking coach, you might want to chat with a psychic online instead.

From enjoying a better night’s sleep to speaking to a confidant, there are several ways to approach each day in a positive way. Try adding these practices to your routine today. It’s likely that you’ll face tomorrow in a whole new light.

Remember, like attracts like. A positive attitude attracts more positivity. What you think about expands. No matter what life throws your way, keep calm and practice positive thinking.

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