In meditation, and in everyday life, what we bring in, we put out. Sometimes, in order to make a necessary change, we must work from the opposite direction by putting out what we want to bring in. So, is meditation alone enough to break a cycle of negativity or bring about positive change? Yes and no.
Yes, meditation and focused intentions will take you places, and quickly. But, no, in order to maintain clarity and progress in moving forward to a permanent change, we must support our intentions with conscious actions to combat the inner circumstances in the subconscious that continually allow negativity and hardship back into our deepest places.
How we talk to ourselves and think to ourselves is very powerful. If we allow ourselves to obsess over our inadequacies, we may be allowing fear to dictate our actions. When we speak negatively, we feel more negative, and continue with long term negative thinking. Likewise, speaking positively and keeping our thoughts positive makes us feel positive.
If not reigned in, or kept in check, we may find ourselves unintentionally speaking harshly to others or calling ourselves names, like stupid, or useless, etc, when we are in a negative head space. Allowing that indulgence into a negative state of being can quickly manifest as our words. Applied to ourselves in thought or speech, it is a very damaging practice to our inner selves, and is a definite confidence destroyer.
As silly as it may sound, engaging in intentional, internal, and positive self talk, as well as outside thoughts and intentions, can make all the difference between temporary progress and a true progressive leap forward in our personal development. In this way, we become right with ourselves.
It is important to recognize that experiencing negative thoughts and feelings is completely natural. It’s how we deal with this unpleasantness that determines our success in dealing with disappointment and frustration. Assuming our problems aren’t clinical, we may be able to reason past these difficult and unpleasant situations by simply finding a positive angle to them, or understanding a hidden meaning that had been long eluded us through similar scenarios in the past.
When I am present in the moment and realize that I’m engaging in negative self talk, I immediately stop what I’m doing and breathe deeply to get clarity. Then I begin to say or think the opposite to myself or look for a better way of expressing my feelings of that moment so that I’m not assigning blame or engaging in self mockery in regards my experience.
I often remind myself that my feelings are natural and absolutely valid, and that I don’t have to remain in that mindset. This has helped me more than anything to self soothe, move on quickly from negativity, and get back to happiness, my preferred state of being. It’s easy to learn, and just takes practice. Luckily for us all, life presents no shortage of opportunity to do just that.
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