Born and raised in a small country, heavily damaged by communism, foreign interest and domestic absurdity, she’s been nurtured with pessimism and a big No-that-cannot-be-done attitude. You see, in Bulgaria even head gestures are reversed. Nodding your head means ‘no’, and shaking your head means ‘yes’. The constant preoccupation of the mind with negative thoughts left her anxious and bitter. A Bulgarian born pessimist on the look for the ‘intrinsically wrong’ bright side of life.
Welcome to the world of new age philosophy – also known as the power of positive thinking. If you are yet one of those who don’t practice positive thinking, at least you’ve heard of it. It is truly all over the place–posters, social networks, a friend of a friend has talked about it; another friend is trying it out and so on and so forth. Moreover, the self help business is booming with books, films, and techniques, which extensively describe and endorse the idea that positive thinking reduces stress and anxiety while promoting vitality and good health. They claim it restores your inner being. But just like any other worthy thing in life, reprogramming your brain to think positively takes time, practice and a lot of perseverance. No exceptions!
Growing up in an old Eastern European country soaked to its peripheries with negativism and ‘sullen realism’ made me even more determined to seek the importance of this phenomenon. Through completely random circumstances (but not-so-random people) I was introduced to the omnipotent power of the Universe and the way it corresponds to the nature of one’s thoughts.
My then unwell being was so fed up with all the hype unleashed over daily crap and lies, channeled through the mass media, society, and politics. How many positive news stories do you hear, or read about, on a daily basis? No need to rack your brains here. It appears to me that a story isn’t newsworthy anymore unless its contagious, bloody, depressing. Fiscal Cliff, Miscal Cliff! Debt Ceiling, Meth Ceiling! Economic crisis! No motherfucking money! Wars! Wars! Wars! I simply refused to entertain or give any significant attention to those instilled anxious thoughts. I condemn this fearful and brittle environment and argue it to be detrimental to personal and professional progress, success and a peaceful mind.
Furthermore, I’ve realized it is the greatest instrument for mass manipulation. After all it is so much easier to manipulate individuals by keeping them in constant fear and anxiety. I believe that is exactly what the American government did following 9/11 (and so many other governments and political regimes, but it is not the time to get into this right now). That particular realization pushed my boundaries and opened me up for the idea that by adopting a positive attitude and mindset I could teach my mind to expect, nurture and, most importantly, receive good. It was and still is my strongest weapon against the pre-programing that we have all been subjected to in one form or another. In my case, it was the big ‘no, you can’t/won’t/shouldn’t’ written into my subconscious mind and reinforced over and over again. It was all that I knew and all that I accepted.
The best analogy I can relate to the positive or negative power of thoughts to is writing a computer program, in which “the extent to which the programming language used in writing computer programs affects the form that the final program takes.” (wikipedia.org, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_programming) Interestingly enough, that is exactly how our thoughts work. The language determines the outcome of our final “program”.
My desire to align my thoughts to the Universe’s frequency was deepened by the obvious fact that better mental and physical health belongs to positive thinkers. And I really wanted to have both. I mean, who doesn’t really? With that in mind I watched The Secret (a book and also a movie “that explain{s}, with simplicity, the law that is governing all lives, and offers the knowledge of how to create – intentionally and effortlessly – a joyful life”). The movie by itself isn’t a masterpiece, indeed it is full of flaws and gaps, but it conveys a powerful message – the frequency of the Universe corresponds to the frequency of your thoughts, where the thought precedes the action. I took it as: “Be careful what you wish for!” And so I did. I kept a written form of my goals, I vigorously practiced a list of positive affirmations, I visualized, I imagined, I hoped, every day that was and, I guess, still is. My subconscious mind was trying to prove to all the haters out there that a little mind tuning can get anybody (regardless of the circumstances) on a positive frequency. No exceptions!
A very important part of positive thinking, emphasized in all the books and movies, is seriously challenging yourself to welcome and receive positive changes. For me that was rather complicated. My inclination to judge the future outcome of a current situation based on my past experience was second nature to me. Out of fear and anxiety, my mind would often reject positive feelings and opportunities. I realize now that, due to my constant fear of failure and judgement, I’ve missed out on so many wonderful opportunities. I used to get easily discourage and fearful when things got rough. With complete awareness, I now own up to my constant fear of failure to the repeatedly told lie that old thoughts, habits, and patterns never die. Well, I wish they’d die easier than people do, but when that’s not the case, I choose to get out of that good, old convenient habit, or at least I try. I smile more, I thank more and I judge less. Once again, at least I try. And everyday I work real hard to resist that oh-so-present self -sabotaging. The biggest truth I learned through that process is that I AM responsible for the way I react when in distress. I am the one who hatches my own drama, and also my own misery. However I am also the one that works hard to make sure my mood strings are tuned into a merrier sound. I believe the trick is not to forego the so-labelled-BAD that is happening around me or to me, but rather to accepted that the way I handle ‘the bad” is actually what makes it so bad. Conversely: so good! No exceptions!
Now, I don’t know if I just wished and hoped for tangible things, but everything I have ever written down and made my mind think is possible, became a reality. Everything, but one thing – winning the lottery! I did not win the god-damn-fucking-lottery. Why? Bad luck; lack of positive affirmations; not enough visualization of me jumping up and down, yelling, screaming, going crazy when winning all those millions? It may be all of the above or none of the above. Who cares?!? I am an optimist now and I let go. Fortunately for me, Buddha confirmed it himself: “All that we are is the result of what we have thought.” No exceptions!
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