Thursday, January 1, 2009 @8:58 PM
This awareness of how our mind works gives us cause to consider what we are sating to ourselves & to others. When you say to your little nephew, " Don't fall out of that tree", you are actually helping him to fall out of it! If you say to yourself, " I don't want to forget my book", you are already halfway to forgetting it.
This is because your mind works on pictures. When you say to yourself, " I don't want to forget my book", you get a picture in your mind of forgetting. Although you say " I don't want want that", your mind still works on that picture & the results ... you forget your book. When you tell yourself " I want to remember my book", you will have a mental picture of yourself remembering, & you will be in a far better position to remember.
Your mind simply does not, cannot & will not work on the reverse of an idea. Therefore when the volleyball coach screams out to his player, " Don't miss the spike", he is asking for trouble! When you say to your children, " Don't break grandma's ten thousand dollar antique vase", you are inviting disaster!
Many frustrated parents could ease their situations by using language which paints pictures of the desired result in their children's minds. Then " Don't scream! " becomes " Please be quiet! " & " Don't miss your serve " becomes " Please serve over ". These differences may seem subtle but they are very, very important.
This principle can help explain why you can drive your old wreck for fifteen years & never scratch it. . . & the first day you have your shiny new set of wheels, you manage to remodel the the whole front end! Driving around thinking, " I mustn't dent this car whatever i do! " is a dangerous though. The thought must be, I'll drive safely.
The tennis player who wins the big tournament is the player who is always thinking, " I want this point. This one is mine!" The fellow who misses out is the one who thinks, " I had better not blow this shot! "
Similarly, the person who says " I don't want to be sick " has an uphill battle to become well & those who fill their minds with thoughts like " I don't want to miss this serve", "I don't want to spike into the net" & "I hope i don't mess this up" can continually find themselves in the very situation they didn't want.
Positive thinking works because positive thinkers dwell on what they want. They then necessarily gravitate toward their goals. Always think about what you want!
team.
