Woo-Woo Woes: Do Your Thoughts Serve You Well?

By Carl “J.C.” Pantejo, Copyright 2007nnWoo-Woo Person: “I’ve been doing all the visualizations, affirmations, and negativity purging; but nothing is happening. I’m still broke!”nnProsperity Mentor: “Does your thinking lead to any ACTION?”nnWoo-Woo Person: “Well…not much, yet. But isn’t the time and energy I spent on the other stuff enough?”nnProsperity Mentor: “If your thinking doesn’t lead to action, how can you be prepared to jump on opportunities that lead you to your dream life? nnWhat can you give now to the person capable of giving you what you desire? Remember, that person will expect something in return. And that something must be of equal or greater value. nnDo you have it?”nnWoo-Woo Person: “Hmm…?”nnThe Woo-Woo Person is at one end of the “Think – Do Spectrum”. The other extreme is the No-Think, Purely Practical Person (but that’s a discussion for another article.)nnThe Woo-Woo Person believes that thought is all that’s needed to manifest his desires. But when Woo-Woo People aren’t manifesting their desires, the big question is this: Are they really thinking in the Certain Way? That is, are they thinking in a way that serves them best; a way that ensures prosperity, a way that is congruent with their whole being? And most importantly, does their thinking lead to ACTION?nnIf not, life becomes a futile cycle of “one step forward, then two steps back.”nn- FUEL FOR THE MAGICAL MANIFESTATION MACHINE -nnIn the grand scheme of things, ALL thoughts, beliefs, and speech contribute to the magical manifestation machine called the Universe. Thought is the fuel that the machine needs to create individual realities. Every positive AND negative thought is registered and acted upon. The Universe doesn’t filter out so-called “good or bad” things. IT let’s you decide. This is called free-will. It is a powerful gift; a gift that most people throw away by choosing to think by default (also called ‘the lemming mentality”); instead of by design (conscious creation through controlled thought).nnWhen negative thoughts are allowed to enter the mind through the front door (meaning: conscious, self-defeating self-talk); or through the back door (i.e., subconscious thought resulting from past training, conditioning, and experiences), even the best laid plans are doomed from the start.nnMost of the time, positive and negative thoughts cancel each other out, leading to a “push-me, pull-you” situation resulting in no progress made at all. If you continue doing this, you expend tremendous amounts of precious time and life energy; only to end up where? Back to (or behind) square one!nn- THE “MENTAL AVOIDER” LETS HIS GUARD DOWN -nnIt takes a constant “Security Thought Patrol,” stationed on the perimeter of the mind, to repel negative thoughts. The Patrol should only allow positive thoughts to enter. Your Patrol should challenge all questionable immigrants into your mind with the proverbial “Halt! Who goes there?” nnControlling your own thoughts is no small task. In fact, many people will engage in anything to keep from having to think about their thoughts. For them, any distraction (activity or person) will suffice.nnLife becomes an endless parade of half-hearted attempts at success and/or multiple shallow relationships. Looking outside themselves, seeking the next tension-relieving activity, temporarily keeps them from really thinking about themselves. And even worse, it prevents them from spending their time on activities that bring them closer to achieving their ultimate life goals.nn- THE VICTIM: “OH, WOE IS ME…” -nnUnfortunately, even in this modern age of self-discovery and self-improvement, the victim mentality is still alive and well. The fact is that playing the victim role is too tempting and too easy for most to resist.nnIn the victim mentality game, all participants are conveniently absolved from any real, personal responsibility. Victims will blame everything and everybody else for their own personal plights.nnThe years pass. And a string of awful jobs, business failures, and broken relationships only bolster their deep depression, anger, and hopelessness.nnUnless these people take full responsibility for their own lives, they will continually spin their wheels, go nowhere, and struggle against all their imagined oppressors. They don’t see that THEY ARE THE CAUSE.nnBoth the “mental avoider” and the “victim” are attempting something impossible. They are trying to hide from themselves. Resembling ostriches, they figuratively stick their heads in the ground and semi-hope for the best. They have mentally given up. Passion is non-existent and life is endured, not lived.nnThese people are truly insane; meaning: they believe things will change on their own accord WITHOUT changing their current ways of thinking and doing. Sadly, they will continue waiting for something that will never come.nnIt really can be different. It just takes proper planting and care. James nAllen, in his classic book “As A Man Thinketh,” tells us that the mind is like a garden. Neglect allows weeds to grow. Seeds for flowers must be planted and constant care is needed to produce a beautiful garden (and mind).nnNegative thoughts, like weeds, easily spring up when nothing else is planted.nn- DON’T TRY TO ERASE IT. REPLACE IT! -nnIndividual conditioning (past and present) plants an overabundance of repeating, negative thought. This is why so many people seem to never move forward in life.nnBut it’s not possible to NOT think about something! This is how Dostoyevsky used to terrorize his brother by telling him NOT to think about a “big, ferocious, white Polar Bear with sharp teeth and killer claws.”nnSuggesting NOT to think about something brings about its exact image! The best way to get rid of a repetitive, negative thought is to REPLACE IT.nnWhen I was a young man in the military, I remember the first time I was ordered to perform my first free-fall parachute evolution (mission). Even though my static line (automatic parachute deployment using an “umbilical cord” attached to the airplane) jumps were somewhat easy and fun; the thought of free-falling from a much higher altitude AND having to judge when to pull my ripcord was, to say the least, unsettling.nnMy Jump Master (a salty Master Sergeant) successfully used the REPLACEMENT method to cure any reticence about free-fall jumping. He would shout, “Son, Fear and Desire can not live in the same mind! Repeat after me: I WANT OUT OF THIS AIRPLANE NOW! I NEED TO JUMP NOW! …I can’t hear you! Say it again: I WANT OUT OF THIS AIRPLANE NOW! I NEED TO JUMP NOW! Go! Go! Go!nnNeedless to say, it worked. I exited the aircraft and immediately began flying through the air like Superman. And as the delight of free-falling filled my whole body and soul, I screamed THANK-YOOOOOO to that Big Master Sergeant above!nn- DIGITAL MEDIA AND YOUR MIND -nnHere’s another way of explaining the REPLACEMENT method (and why you should use it).nnThink of your mind like any other form of digital storage media (i.e., internal and external hard drives, USB memory sticks, I-Pods, .mp3 players, etc.). When you believe that you’re “erasing” something on it, you really aren’t.nnAny techie (or savvy computer person) will tell you that “deleting or erasing” something merely means that you “gave permission for further information to overwrite whatever is in that particular space.” In other words, until you overwrite the information, it’s still there! How do you think information recovery systems work? They all operate on the fact that initial “deletions” are merely “gate openings,” allowing information to be overwritten. Your mind operates the same way. Until you “overwrite” certain thoughts, they will always remain.nnChoose your replacement thoughts carefully. The more different the replacement thought is, the better. In fact, if you can think of its opposite, use it! Replace fear with desire; replace hopelessness with certainty; and most of all replace hate with love.nn- YOUR THOUGHTS: SERVICE OR SABOTAGE? -nnAll Law of Attraction and Science of Getting Rich gurus agree on one thing: Your thoughts can definitely serve you or sabotage you. Do your thoughts make you feel good? If they don’t, why continue to think them? Do your thoughts overtly or covertly sabotage you? Not sure? Just look at the results of your present thinking and doing. If your present results are not what you desire, why keep their underlying causes (the thoughts that created them in the first place) alive?nnMany people (myself included) believe that all suffering can be traced to an error in thought. This is simply because we as powerfully thinking individuals have the ability to assign our own connotations of “good or bad” to anything in life. nnIf any thought makes you feel bad or uncomfortable; either replace it, or find the seed of goodness in it.nnI like to combine the slogans of Naploeon Hill (the author of the classic book “Think and Grow Rich”) and Russell Conwell (founder of Temple University and acclaimed “Acres of Diamonds” lecturer) into one phrase: “In every seemingly bad situation or apparent failure is the seed for its solution. And it is this magic seed that will produce your own acres of diamonds.” There is ALWAYS something good. You just have to find it. nThink. Think hard!nnAfter you realize that the above is true, it’s almost ridiculous to continue thinking thoughts that do not serve you. Only a masochist would purposely subject themselves to this kind of perpetual mental torture.nnWhy continue to think thoughts that make you feel bad? Do your feel like they are the only things that make you unique? If so, you must realize that such a belief is a form of mental, emotional, and spiritual suicide.nnIt is pure and utter nonsense to believe that your uniqueness is solely because of your negative thoughts. You are special because you are special. ‘nuff said. No one else is now, or will ever be, you. Accept this powerful thought. No one - and I mean no one - has the same abilities and desires that you have.nnDo you think your thoughts were meant to bring you unhappiness? Do you think that some deviant, ironic, universal force planted them into your mind for the perverse pleasure of seeing your mental turmoil? OF COURSE NOT! nYour thoughts, especially thoughts about what you desire in life, are the clues to your ultimate happiness. They are the little hints that can produce life-changing results. They are whispers in the wind, co-created by you and the Universe.nnI like to think of them (thoughts that serve us well) as the bread crumbs carefully placed in our life path, leading us to our own personal utopia.nnRest assured that if you weren’t capable of achieving your desires, you wouldn’t have the thoughts about them in the first place. In other words, every thought of a desire is backed by the power and possibility of achieving it.nnNow, back to the main topic of having your thoughts serve you…nnI’ve spent most of my life living by simple checklists. It’s not silly to use them. Airplane pilots, astronauts, and almost all successful people employ them. In fact, during my military career, following those little checklists saved my life many times.nnSo, here’s a checklist for you – the “Service Thought vs. Sabotage Thought” – personal checklist. It will help you decide whether a certain thought serves you or sabotages you.nnBy no means is this checklist “all inclusive.” Use it as the point of departure in making your own “Service Thought vs. Sabotage Thought” personal checklist. In all instances, if the answer is “no,” replace it or refine it (find the good in it).nn1. Does the thought make me feel good? n2. Does the thought inspire me?n3. Does the thought energize me?n4. Does the thought motivate me to ACT?n5. Is the resultant ACTION an effective action (i.e., action that brings me closer to my life goals)?nnRemember, thoughts that serve you are always positive. They lead you to the good things in life. They are exciting. They are related to your individual desires and personal passions. They point the way to creativity, not competition. They sharpen you, instead of dull you. In short, they heal, instead of hurt.nnAnd last, but not least, THEY LEAD TO ACTION.nnHow do your thoughts serve you, my friend?nnCarl “J.C.” PantejonPantejo@ynvurcepublishing.comnAuthor, "My Friend Yu - The Prosperity Mentor”nFounder, Y.N. Vurce Publishingnhttp://www.ynvurcepublishing.com