Faith & The Power of the Mind

The Law of Attraction reminds me of faith.  Perhaps that is why this has been so powerful for me.

"The law responds to your thoughts no matter what they may be.  If you can think about what you want in your mind and make that your dominant thought, you will bring it into your life."  The author says, "Quantum physicists tell us that the entire universe emerged from thought." (The Secret)

As a Latter-Day Saint, I know this is true.  I know that Jesus Christ created this world through the power of his faith.  However, I don't believe we have powers equal to Christ, nor will we, till after this life. But that's why we are here on earth, to gain our education, which is the knowledge that God has, and to choose God, Christ and good works. As we do this we begin to take on the attributes of Christ.

Elder Joseph B Wirthlin said, "Truly understood and properly practiced, faith is one of the grand and glorious powers of eternity. It is a force powerful beyond our comprehension. “Through faith … the worlds were framed by the word of God.” (Hebrews 11:33) Through faith, waters are parted, the sick are healed, the wicked silenced, and salvation made possible.
Our faith is the foundation upon which all our spiritual lives rest. It should be the most important resource of our lives. Faith is not so much something we believe; faith is something we live.
Remember the words of the Savior: “If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.” (Mark 9:23) “He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do.” (John 14:12)

What I understand is that, as human beings, we have a mind that can discern.  And we can use our agency to CHOOSE our thoughts.  In having this power to choose our thoughts it gives us the power to literally create the world around us.  For example, when I'm suffering from depression, or having a down day, everything around me seems drab.  I don't know if I even really see.  Nothing around me feels good.  But as I have been applying the LOA, even on days when I'm sure I would have been discouraged, I have turned my thoughts around.  I started seeing things around me.  I started feeling things around me.  I bet each one of us could look upon a scene, let's say a painting, and "see" something different.  The colors in the painting we love would stand out.  The things in the painting we love would stand out.  Even something we don't like might stand out more in our mind than in someone else.  And what we see could all be based on what we are thinking and feeling at the time.  If we are feeling bad, we might think it ugly.  If we feel good, we might think it the most beautiful thing ever.  Yet it is the same painting. 

As I have been applying this way of positive thinking this past month, when my natural instinct wants to tell me I don't feel good, I just start saying to myself in my most enthusiastic way, "I feel GREAT!  I feel WONDERFUL!  I feel HAPPY!  I am so blessed!  My life is so great!  And then my mind just takes off in the direction of all the great things that ARE in my life--and wow!  What a profound difference!  I used to could hardly bring a smile to my face (unless I really was having a good day) and one of the "shifters" they tell you to use is to smile to yourself for one full minute.  Let me tell you, this is amazing!  Before this book I'd been reading some other things that were psychology related, and one of them was the power of laughter.  I've read in more than one place that your body cannot tell the difference between a fake laugh or a fake smile as opposed to a real one.  There is a lot of good endorphins and chemistry that is released into your body when it knows you are happy and feeling good.  So, give yourself a big treat and SMILE to yourself for a full minute several times a day.  I am finding myself smiling more spontaneously now.  Find more ways to incorporate laughter into your life!  I'm surprised at how great I feel when I have found something to laugh at! 

LOA says, "It has been scientifically proven that an affirmative thought is hundreds of times more powerful than a negative thought."
"The most important thing for you to know is that it is impossible to feel bad and at the same time be having good thoughts.  That would defy the law, because your thoughts cause your feelings.  If you are feeling bad, it is because you are thinking thoughts that are making you feel bad."
"The importance of feelings cannot be overstated.  Your feelings are your greatest tool to help you create your life.  Your thoughts are the primary cause of everything.  Everything else you see and experience in this world is effect, and that includes your feelings.  The cause is always your thoughts."

Ask yourself throughout the day: How am I feeling?  Am I mad?  Am I sad?  Am I afraid?  Am I glad?  We can feel more than one emotion at a time.  We might even be sad and glad at the same time.  Try and shift your focus on being glad.   (from Gary & Joy Lundberg's book "I Don't Have To Make Everything All Better")

Learn to recognize the bad feelings and get yourself on a feel good frequency.  Bad feelings are depression, anger, resentment, guilt, hostility, being unkind, jealousy, discontent, rage, hurt, selfishness, hopelessness, defensiveness, blame, self-pity, complaining, withholding gratitude or praise when it could lift another, contention, justification, over-doing, taking ownership of others problems, fear, stress in any form, letting ourselves be provoked, thinking badly of our self or others, gossiping, backbiting, seething....I'm sure this list could go on and on.  As you recognize these feelings, change the frequency.  Get on a frequency of joy, love, peace, light, hope, and so on. 

LOA says we are like a radio or television frequency.  We can change the channel or choose the frequency we are on.  If we choose a good frequency, good things will continue to come to us all day.  It reminds me of Boyd K. Packer and his talk about our mind being a stage:

"During every waking moment the curtain is up. There is always some act being performed on that stage. It may be a comedy, a tragedy, interesting or dull, good or bad; but always there is some act playing on the stage of your mind. Have you noticed that shady little thoughts may creep in from the wings and attract your attention in the middle of almost any performance and without any real intent on your part? These delinquent thoughts will try to upstage everybody. If you permit them to go on, all thoughts of any virtue will leave the stage. You will be left, because you consented to it, to the influence of unrighteous thoughts. If you yield to them, they will enact for you on the stage of your mind anything to the limits of your toleration. They may enact themes of bitterness, jealousy, or hatred. They may be vulgar, immoral, even depraved. When they have the stage, if you let them, they will devise the most clever persuasions to hold your attention. They can make it interesting all right; even convince you that they are innocent, for they are but thoughts. What do you do at a time like that, when the stage of your mind is commandeered by the imps of unclean thinking, whether they be the gray ones that seem almost clean or the filthy ones that leave no room for doubt? If you can fill your mind with clean and constructive thoughts, then there will be no room for these persistent imps, and they will leave."
President Packer has counseled us to sing a hymn in our mind, or recite a scripture we have memorized.  Putting on wholesome, uplifting music can drive any bad thoughts and feelings away.

LOA says, Think of yourself as a magnet.  Whatever you think, is drawn to you like a magnet.  If you're thinking about how angry you are at someone, you will draw more situations like that into your life.  If you are thinking, I don't want to be late, I don't want to be late.  You are attracting the situation of being late just because that is what you are thinking.  Adding "I don't" before something, or anything that makes it negative, does not cancel the negativity.  If one thing goes wrong first thing in the morning and you think your day is going bad, you are going to continue to attract bad things to happen to you all day.  One shift in thought (from negative to positive) can literally change your whole day.

Whatever our life is right now, it's a compilation of our life's experiences, the images we've seen, the thoughts we have thought, the feelings we have felt.  Sometimes the bad experiences of life take over and obscure the good in our life so that we don't see it so well anymore.  But whatever "thought" has done in your life, it can be undone through a shift in your awareness.   You can erase previous thoughts by replacing them with good thoughts.  The more you can feel good, the more you will attract thoughts that bring you higher and higher.

President James E. Faust said, "The power to change is very real, and it's a great spiritual gift."

Elder John H. Groberg said, "Sometimes when things aren't going right, we think we need to get away from a place or a person.  Sometimes that helps, but most of the time what we need is to get away from our old self and our selfish feelings.  We can leave a place behind, or we can stay in that place and leave our selfishness (feeling sorry for ourselves) behind.  If we leave a place and take our selfishness with us, the cycle of problems start all over again no matter where we go.  But if we leave our selfishness behind, no matter where we are, things start to improve."  (In The Eye of the Storm pg. 39)

LOA SAYS, "Even if you're having a really hard time in a relationship---things aren't working, you're not getting along, someone's in your face--you still can turn that relationship around."

Our thoughts influence our environment.

Your mind is a cupboard.  You stock the shelves.

"No misfortune is so bad that whining about it won't make it worse."  -Jeffery R. Holland

 Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not.  (D&C 6:36)

Hebrews 11:1 Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Ether 12:6 ...dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith....if there be no faith....God can do no miracle among them...

Moroni 7  ...I will tell you the way whereby ye may lay hold on every good thing...it is by faith....as surely as Christ liveth he spake these words unto our fathers, saying:  "Whatsoever thing ye shall ask the Father in my name, which is good, in faith believing that ye shall receive, behold, it shall be done unto you....For he hath answered the ends of the law, and he claimeth all those who have faith in him; and they who have faith in him will cleave unto every good thing; wherefore he advocateth the cause of the children of men; and he dwelleth eternally in the heavens...unto them of strong faith and a firm mind in every form of godliness...And Christ hath said: If ye will have faith in me ye shall have power to do whatsoever thing is expedient in me. 

God wants us to have a good and an abundant life.  He wants us to be happy.  However, his blessings are contingent on our good works and on our keeping his commandments, especially for those of us who have the truth and know what we need to be doing.

I also thought this counsel from Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin was important:  "...one’s faith should be consistent with the will of our Heavenly Father, including His laws of nature. The sparrow flying into a hurricane may believe that he can successfully navigate the storm, but the unforgiving natural law will convince him otherwise in the end.
Are we wiser than the sparrow? Often what passes for faith in this world is little more than gullibility. It is distressing to see how eager some people are to embrace fads and theories while rejecting or giving less credence and attention to the everlasting principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is distressing how eagerly some rush into foolish or unethical behavior, believing that God will somehow deliver them from the inevitable tragic consequences of their actions. They even go so far as to ask for the blessings of heaven, knowing in their hearts that what they do is contrary to the will of our Father in Heaven."

I'm grateful for his wise counsel.  The LOA could be considered as a fad or theory....there is certainly plenty in there that I don't agree with, because it cannot apply to me as a Latter-Day Saint who holds the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ in my hands.  But as I have prayerfully studied it, and gleaned from it the truths they have found, and added the truths from the scriptures and the words of the living prophets, I really do feel like this book was put in my path to help me.  It has been a huge blessing.  It has reinforced all the things God has been trying to teach me, but has unlocked to me the power of finally knowing how to apply it and improve my life, without changing anything, except to eliminate negative thinking and replace it with positive thinking.  I'm still stunned by how much power Satan's darkness can have over us even when we are living to the very best of our ability.

But then again, that is precisely why Satan is hovering over you--because he knows the power you will have when you live a righteous life and help others to do the same.