THINK Your Life Into Existance!

I have been reading a book called 'The Secret' by Rhonda Byrne.  I do not agree with many of the concepts in that book because of my Religion, however, I have learned a lot about the power of positive thinking.  Even though I have always known I am a Child of God, and I have always been faithful to my Church and religious beliefs, I have struggled with believing in myself.  This is a weakness that the Lord blessed me with to enable me to grow and build the character that He knew I would be able to develop in this life, so reading that book prompted this blog so I could share the things I was learning about positive thinking.

I know that the Lord Jesus Christ created this earth under the direction of His Father.  "All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made."  (John 1:3)

In Rhonda's book they always talk about the 'law of attraction' which reveals some profound truths about God and this world He created for us, and how He really does want us to learn how to be happy. There are principles you have to live by in order for the LOA to work for you. These include love, gratitude, happiness, forgiveness, giving, feeling good, and so on. It's obvious their most direct source for these principles, and they tell you this, are found in the bible. They mainly refer to the "Universe" as they talk about this law, but at one point they do say that many people also refer to the "Universe" as God.

The reason I want to share my feelings about this book are because many of the things they say helped me to understand some things that the Lord has been trying to teach me all along.  I have Fibromyalgia as well as some other health problems. I've been searching for help for it since about 2003 when it became more obvious that something was wrong. I have prayed and studied and searched for the help and strength I needed to cope with this. From all I read, I believed FM was incurable...that is until June of this year when I learned about Dr. David Dryland, a medical doctor that believed FM was not an incurable disease. I bought and read his book. It gave me hope. Since June the Lord has been leading me to find many articles and sources relating to the fact that our emotions and our mental state of health are what lead to chronic stress which leads to disease. Dr. Dryland said, "When you change a negative thought, you will always change the subsequent emotional feelings that are sent to your body."

In Rhonda's book it says:
"We all work with one infinite power. We all guide ourselves by exactly the same laws. The natural laws of the universe are so precise that we don't even have any difficulty building spaceships, we can send people to the moon, and we can time the landing with the precision of a fraction of a second. Wherever you are...we are all working with one power. One law. It's attraction! Everything that's coming into your life you are attracting into your life. And it's attracted to you by virtue of the images you're holding in your mind. It's what you're thinking. Whatever is going on in your mind you are attracting to you."

Before I read this book I would have estimated that I was at least a 75% positive person about life, myself, others. After reading this book I would say I was more down in the low 20% range. I am stunned by how many negative thoughts I have been generating. I have struggled with depression. I believe and always will, that depression is a real thing. But now I can see how my negative thoughts created that depression. It is clear to me how much I have lived under the darkness of Satan's lies and negativity. Satan wants us to feel really bad about ourselves. And when we feel bad about ourselves, it is much harder to love others, and to see the good around us.
Depression is real despite what anyone else might say about 'just thinking positively', and I do believe God has given us our agency to choose, and that that agency is a great power.  We need to learn to recognize that power in us and learn how to use it.

But I also believe deeply in the grace we receive from Jesus Christ, which is an enabling power, and that He can help us through our darkest times.  I know He has always been there for me.  

I was deeply impressed by a story told by Viktor Frankl about his days in a concentration camp. He summarizes his experience with this statement: "We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing; the last of the human freedoms--to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way."

Rhonda's book claims the LOA gives you the power to "intentionally think and create your entire life." I believe this is true to an extent, but more than that I believe that God has made a perfect plan for our life, a plan full of trials and opposition that will help us recognize true Joy, because without knowing pain and sorrow we could not know Joy or Happiness.  I believe He is truly in charge of what happens to us from the day we are born to the day we die, because He knows the End from the Beginning, and He knew the choices we would make.  He prepare the way for us to receive the greatest salvation possible.


But good and positive thoughts are a powerful thing in controling our environment and our feelings, and yes, now I am learning, even our health.

In layman terms, our thoughts are like a boomerang. What you think and send out in thoughts, goes out and returns back to you in kind. I.E. hate for hate, love for love, selfishness for selfishness, kindness for kindness and so on. It's like the old adage: What goes around comes around.

To put this in perspective from an LDS stand point, let me quote from three of our church leaders from recent conference addresses:

"Choose by what you put in your mind to be an example of hope to those around you." President Henry B. Eyring
"As agents, you and I have the power to act and to choose how we will respond in any situation." Elder David A. Bednar
"Our motives and thoughts ultimately influence our actions. Jesus repeatedly emphasized the power of good thoughts and proper motives: 'Look unto me in every thought, doubt not, fear not.' (D&C 6:36)" President Dieter F. Uchtdorf

In D&C 58:27-28 it says, "Men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness; for the power is in them, wherein they are agents unto themselves..."
And:
"For as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he." Proverbs 23:7

*An affirmative thought is ONE HUNDRED times more powerful than a negative thought.

*Resentment's powerful negative emotions swell within us and attract other negative emotions...when resentment rules, darkness gathers. (resentment is bitterness, indignation, sense of injury or injustice.)

*"If we understood the power of our thoughts, we would guard them more closely. If we understood the awesome power of our words, we would prefer silence to almost anything negative. In our thoughts and words we create our own weaknesses and our own strengths. Our limitations and joys begin in our hearts. We can always replace negative with positive. We can baptize negative feelings in our Savior's tears and rise to a new life in the arms of His love." -Betty Eadie, author of the book "Embraced By The Light."

*The importance of feelings cannot be overstated. Your feelings are your greatest tools to help 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. Your feelings quickly tell you what you're thinking.

*No one else can "cause" you to feel anything (i.e. He made me mad.) You have the power to choose how you feel or react.

*If you feel bad, it's because you are thinking bad thoughts. It's impossible to feel bad at the same time as having good thoughts.

*Next time you are feeling an emotion, think about where that emotion affects your body. I.E. fear gets you in the pit of your stomach, sad hurts your heart, mad raises your blood pressure, and so on. Long term negative thinking leads to long term and chronic bad emotions which lead to chronic stress which leads to disease. Disease is "dis ease" meaning your body is not at ease. It doesn't feel good. Be aware of how you are feeling. Is it a good feeling, or a bad feeling? If it's bad, do, think and feel something that makes you feel good!

*Whatever you are feeling, good or bad, you are attracting or bringing to you more of the same. That is the law of attraction. We attract what we think.