One of the magical things about meditation and yoga is that they can make you far more aware of your thoughts, their content and nature. This in turn can give you greater control over those thoughts. You can develop the ability to consciously recognize and choose more positive thoughts. (Read more in How to Master Your Mind.) But why does the quality of our thoughts matter?
Shakespeare famously wrote, “There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.” In other words, it is not the events of our lives which determine our experience, but rather the thoughts we have about these events. The quality of our thoughts determines the quality of our lives.
This is important because often we live under the illusion that the reverse is true. That we think “bad thoughts” because “bad things happen.” this=”” leaves=”” us=”” entirely=”” at=”” the=”” mercy=”” of=”” external=”” events,=”” very=”” thing=”” we=”” cannot=”” control.=”” when=”” realize=”” that=”” instead=”” it=”” is=”” thoughts=”” themselves=”” create=”” our=”” perception=”” world,=”” begin=”” to=”” understand=”” incredible=”” power=”” thinking=”” has=”” over=”” lives.=”” also=”” start=”” appreciate=”” own=”” positively=”” influence=”” experience=”” life,=”” simply=”” by=”” consciously=”” choosing=”” higher-quality,=”” more=”” positive=”” and=”” constructive=”” thoughts.=”” (learn=”” in=”” Finding Happiness.)
Here’s an example. Say our plans for the weekend are cancelled because of bad weather. We have a choice here. We could condemn the whole weekend, writing it off as a failure. We can lament the loss of our plans and spend the time regretting the fact that we are not doing what we had hoped. Alternatively, we can choose to think about the change of plans as an opportunity. We can work from the assumption that our original plans would have been nice but that the weekend has something even better in store for us. We can contemplate what we would most like to do with this newfound time. Perhaps we reschedule our original plans for a different weekend and enjoy the fact that we now have longer to look forward to them. In short, we adjust our thinking to accept the situation and trust that everything will work out brilliantly anyway. (Read more in The Wisdom of Non-Attachment.)
When you’re disappointed or down, choosing more positive thoughts may not feel like an easy or obvious thing to do. However, it will have a huge impact on the quality of your life. Given the power of positive thinking, the quality of our thoughts is not something any of us can afford to ignore. They really do matter.