About those thoughts running around in your head: Are they helpful or harmful? Do you know how to choose which ones prevail?

The soul becomes dyed with the color of its thoughts.

— Marcus Aurelius

In previous posts PattiAnn and I have looked at how our actions are forged by experience; in particular we observed from our readings and research that:

• When our brains get tired we make “less good decisions.”
• Life is a balancing act demanding constant, subtle responses.
• Finding and focusing on the positive, in a ratio of 5:1, is our best defense against discouragement, depression or worse.

And we recommended:

Rest and relaxation are strength training for the mind. — PattiAnn

When you’re feeling off kilter and about to stumble – breathe, ask for God’s steadying grace and then subtly shift yourself to a new way of ‘being in the moment.’ — Ellie

Be in charge of your thoughts – focus on finding the positive. — PattiAnn

And while I’m convinced that it’s healthier to habitually entertain five times more of the helpful kind of thoughts than the harmful kind, I think it’s easier said than done. I’m just not sure I know how to effectively think good thoughts on a 5:1 ratio!

In fact, with all the unhappy economic and extreme weather news roaring down the airwaves these days, bad news is romping around my weary brain with impunity.  And simply vowing to “hold that good thought” seems a bit like that Mary Poppins’ line: Piecrust promises are easily made and easily broken.

It’s a bit like the old “don’t think of a pink elephant” problem: as soon as you see or hear the words “pink elephant”, like it or not, suddenly there’s this lumbering pink elephant cavorting through your consciousness!  So, when an unhelpful thought invades my brain, how exactly is it that I “hold that Good Thought”??

Tie-Dyed Souls

If, as Aurelius said, “the soul becomes dyed with the color of its thoughts” then that 5:1 positive to negative ratio really is an important pattern to aspire to achieve.  It deserves my attention, my intention and my effort. So, for the fun of it, let’s play with the analogy and ask the question:

What color would you like your soul to be?

(OK, let’s agree to set aside the refrain “whatever color gets me though heaven’s gate…” – play along with me here…)

Well, according to Megan Otherson-Gorman, “Living optimistically may give you a shot at a longer, healthier life.”  And since my current mantra is “healthy, wealthy, active and wise” I choose to “color me” optimistic.  But short of playing PollyAnna to the jaded audience of my mind, how do I do that?

Color Your Soul with Optimism

As a single footstep will not make a path on the earth, so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind. To make a deep physical path, we walk again and again. To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives.

— Henry David Thoreau

How do we deepen the optimistic pathways in our minds?  I offer you two techniques for accomplishing that feat – both offer opportunities for repeatedly and habitually inviting positive possibilities into our lives.  One asks only for a simple mental chant, and the other will demand a bit of vision:

1st Technique: HealthyWealthyandReallySmart’s Affirmations
2nd Technique: Dyer’s Bend-to Any-Wind Visioning

HealthyWealthyandReallySmart’s Affirmation Technique

Even a tired brain will find this technique an easy way to ratchet up your 5:1 positive to negative thought ratio.  The blog, Healthy Wealthy and Really Smart advises us that:

It is possible to create new and better pathways within your brain [by carrying] an affirmative thought with you every day to remind you to stay optimistic. [For example] I choose to be grateful… I choose to be kind…  I choose to give love … I choose to feel joy…I choose to see the good within…I choose to be happy.

Just yesterday, after writing about this affirmation technique, I found myself wearily putting away my teaching “stuff” – leftovers from my weekend teaching gig… and I noticed these thoughts quietly slipping through my mind:

I enjoy putting things back where they belong…

One part of my brain responded with:

Huh??

But another gleefully recognized:

Ta-da! I’ve just taken my first step along a positive attitude pathway regarding all the annoying “stuff” that clutters my life.

Trivial?  Mundane?  Yes.  But – for me – a powerful and much needed affirmation.

Dyer’s “Bend to Any Wind Vision” Technique

Wayne Dyer recommends simply creating your own affirmative vision:

Look for times when you can make the choice to weather a storm by allowing it to blow through without resistance. How does this work? Be willing to adapt to whatever may come your way by initially allowing yourself to experience that potentially destructive energy, much like the bending tree in the hurricane.

When criticism comes, listen. When powerful forces push you in any direction, bow rather than fight, lean rather than break, and allow yourself to be free from a rigid set of rules—in doing so, you’ll be preserved and unbroken.

Keep an inner vision of the wind symbolizing difficult situations as you affirm: I have no rigidity within me. I can bend to any wind and remain unbroken. I will use the strength of the wind to make me even stronger and better preserved.

I’m going to spend some quiet time thinking about how I can personalize Dyer’s visioning exercise.  I suspect I already have some sort of not-quite-conscious, “bend to any wind and remain unbroken” self-view.  Having thought that, I’ll try to pay attention and let my brain reveal this self-view as a “vision” that I can replay on demand.

Now, about those thoughts running around in your head – how will you choose to hold that good thought?