“Truly, thoughts ARE things.” Thomas Edison
Listening to "Think and Grow Rich" by Napoleon Hill is already making me rich, and not just in my pocket book. Getting this audio book downloaded before I went back to work this week put me in a much needed, elevated mindset. The author could almost be interpreted as arrogant, the way he instructs you to value his advice, but for the motivation it has given me to get better, he seems to be right. His focus is on desiring money and the sure fire formula to getting it, but it's a lesson on the power of the mind. "Thoughts ARE things" he tells us, quoting one of his many role models, and explains how thinking about the exact amount of money you want will bring it to you, but this applies to the power of all thoughts. Based on his formula and supporting anecdotes that I listened to on my way to and from work this week, I made choices to think a different way, and subsequently push the easy button on life.
Have you ever gotten a piece of knowledge or advice and wondered why no one had told you sooner? I often have and didn't realize until just this year how things find us when we are truly ready. Even if we heard them sooner, we didn't really HEAR them until we were ready enough for the light bulb to switch on. This year was the first time I ever walked a labyrinth, and just above the Casino Strip of Laughlin, Nevada of all places, and the insight from that experience shone light on how/why we keep mastering life, bit by bit. This week I turned another corner in the labyrinth of life and finally tried out the power of positive thinking, imagining things as I want them to be, instead of focusing on circumstances I felt I was doomed with. How many times have I been told of the power of positive thinking? How many times did my mind brush it off and choose to look at "reality" rather than the bright side? Clearly far too many, but this week I turned another corner in the labyrinth.
Seven days ago I started “Think and Grow Rich”, and straight out of the gate, he tells us, "Get your mission statement and read it every morning and every evening" because if you convince your mind that what you desire is yours, it will have no choice but to bring it to you. Always a good student, I didn't want to continue through the book until I'd followed the first set of instructions, so I paused until I had time to complete my statement. That afternoon was filled with van building chores, mini-meltdown included, and I went to bed at a reasonable hour, struggling not to spend too much energy dreading the dread worthy work-week. At 4:44, I woke up and went to the bathroom, but laid back down after weighing the pros and cons of starting my day that early, debating between enjoying those 4 hours to myself vs how tired I could be 20 hours later when I'd finally get to sleep again. This moment was the beginning of my minding working for me, rather than against me. After less than a minute back in bed, instead of dozing straight off into dreamland, I felt awake, alert, and excited for my favorite time of the day. I crept downstairs, opened my laptop, and threw down my mission statement. Generally, they say there's a certain magic in hand writing things, but this time, the magic was in the speed of typing; writing and knowing I could edit and fill an entire printed page expounded the vastness of what I believe I can desire and attain. By putting that mission statement down, I was then able to listen to the next chapter of the book on the way to work that day, which made me ready for the next assignment I took from it.
I've done a lot of hard jobs in my career, so I had an inkling of what I was getting into coming to Syracuse, but the past few months in St. Joseph's vascular surgery service took it up a notch. My lover arrived here in the peak of my pain, and after watching me suffer through a few episodes of it, he started to help me in a different way than what I thought I'd wanted. Getting out the door has always been tough for me, and to me it seemed obvious how he could make it easier. Can you believe it wasn't obvious to him??? I'm like a Tasmanian devil blazing through the kitchen trying to organize all the food and drinks I need for the day, begging this bleary eyed man to help me, while he somehow lacks the telepathy to hear exactly what I want. I do it myself, fill all my cups, and ask him to help me carry them to the car. I rush out the door in Tasmanian fashion; Scott trails behind me with my tea. Instead of the love we usually exchange, he looks at me with deserved annoyance and says, "Be nice today". I know he was right, and I knew I had just the man I needed to remind me of that, calling me out on my behavior in a kind way, and that simple statement stuck with me for the rest of the week. Between this and all the other inspiration and information I've been working with, this workweek made me richer in spirit as well as in dollars. When the thoughts of dread, fear, etc. came in, I chose to imagine how I want to live, enjoying ease and support rather than believing that everyone/everything is against me. Every day in the hospital proved to be easier than the last, and definitely easier than the previous few weeks, and instead of worrying that the spell would break and things would get hard, I continue to imagine life as I want it to be.