We have about 60,000 thoughts per day, or 42 thoughts per minute! That's right... We are more in our head than in the world. We interpret and dissect the world in our head, and create our own truth, our own reality. We decide on actions according to our conclusions. Therefore, it is logical to say that our thoughts create our reality.
For example, my 7 year old has decided that she does not and will not understand fractions. She has been busy in this little mind of hers repeating to herself that it is too hard, and she is not smart enough. In the meantime, I have been explaining to her the basic principles, thanks to the universal laws of Pizza sharing! And not surprisingly, she understood it! But for her, sharing Pizza is not maths, and she still thinks that fractions are waaaayyyy above her league. When she will be sitting for her SATS exams tomorrow, she might just decide to skip any fraction related questions (oh Gosh I hope not!). If she does, her negative thoughts would have had a direct influence on her grades.... Therefore her thoughts are creating her reality.
In the grand scheme of things, when we tell ourselves that we are not experienced enough, not credible enough, not smart enough, not strong enough, not rich enough, or not healthy enough (ouch, this is hitting home!), to do whatever we yearn to do, these very thoughts are limiting our experiences, and are directly influencing our life.
Let's go a bit deeper. What if our thoughts are creating our feelings? We are exposed to a certain situation, and naturally we think about it: we interpret it, analyse it, and the end product is a feeling.
Example: Someone I know on a first name basis has decided to ignore me today. Yep, she walked right by me, saw me, and just pretended I wasn't there. My thinking box didn't need more than a millisecond to start over-analysing what just happened. What did I do to her? How am I going to respond? Why am I less important than these other people that she said hello to? Maybe it is something I said, maybe it is something I didn't say? And then these thoughts created a feeling of unease, shame, and fifteen minutes later, I was rather annoyed, borderline angry.
WOW! Easy, tiger.
If I didn't know any better, this mood could have tinted my day in an unattractive shade of grey. This is a simplistic yet straightforward chain of events that can fit many other scenarios. Bottom line: My thoughts created my feelings.
I hear you already saying: hold on, what about this woman who didn't say hello. Wasn't it her fault that you felt all of these feelings? Well, no. She is an outside trigger. I am the one who decided to think about the situation and interpret it the way I did, creating a small hurricane in the tranquil waters of my mind. My processing of the situation (in other words, my thoughts) created these feelings.
I could have chosen to ignore the event, or at least not give it too much thoughts, and stay on my happy cloud.
This is a major point: If I control my thoughts, can I influence my level of happiness? Even better, can I control my future? If this is truly how the brain works, then being aware that thoughts create our reality, influence our mood and determine our level of happiness give us huge powers! It give us control.
Thoughts can limit us, imprison us, and make us miserable, but if used correctly, they can elevate us, open up possibilities, and make us see happiness right in front of our nose. The choice is ours... Either we choose to be victims of our mind, in which case our thoughts can imprison us in a reality which we would have not chosen for ourselves, or we can set ourselves free, and fulfil our potential by choosing our thoughts and state of mind, and enjoying the present moment in our self-written life story.