It was 30 years ago when we built our house. At first, we were situated in a wheat field with no trees. But still, we had a wonderful view of a neighbor’s orchard that blossomed in the spring, and behind the orchard was a picturesque old barn. We loved it.
Unfortunately, some of our guests saw it differently. In those first years, we could categorize our visitors into two groups. Coming into our living room, the first thing our guests saw from our large picture windows was the beautiful old barn.
One group exclaimed, “You’re so lucky to have that quaint old barn in your yard!” It felt like being in the country. The other group spoke with equal fervor, “You have such a wonderful backyard. It’s just too bad that you have that old barn to ruin your view.”
And both were right. Your life always depends on your perspective.
Take for instance when the weatherman predicted a 30 percent chance of rain last night. I said, “Good. We have a chance of rain tonight” and we needed it desperately. But my husband said, “We won’t likely get any rain tonight. They’re predicting only a 30 percent chance.”
The truth is, our 30 percent became 100 percent and we got more than a half inch of much-needed rain for our gardens, bushes and trees.
If a glass is half filled with water, do you see the glass as “half-empty” or “half-full”? If the day is partly sunny but there are still lots of clouds in the sky, do you classify it as “partially-cloudy” or “partially-sunny”? And when you pick roses, are you sad that there are thorns on the rosebushes or are you happy that there are roses on the thorn bushes?
Think of your answers for a minute. For your answers reflect your outlook on life. If you dwell on negative things, you’ll see only thorns or clouds or dilapidated old barns. But if you focus on the positive, you’ll experience beautiful roses and sunny days and picturesque old barns. You decide whether your cup is half-empty or half-full.
Your thoughts matter. Dr. Wayne Dyer in his book “You’ll See It When You Believe It” says that your thoughts are something you control and they originate with you. And thoughts are translated to dreams, which in turn are translated to action. Thus your thoughts determine your life.
As Ralph Waldo Emerson put it, “We become what we think about all day.” And “Change your thoughts and you change your world” said Norman Vincent Peale.
Echoing those wonderful thinkers, Dyer writes “You can create with thought any pictures that you choose, and these pictures are the very stuff of your life . . . Regardless of the circumstances of your life, you are the writer, director, and producer of your mental images. You will always act out those pictures.”
Thus, you are your own boss. No one else can tell you what to do with your life, and you can not blame anyone else if your life isn’t like you want it.
So stop thinking negative thoughts today, and dream of the life you want. Hold that dream in the forefront of your mind and be willing to do what it takes to make your dream come true. And most importantly, always remember you become what you think about each day.
Marie Snider is an award-winning healthcare writer and syndicated columnist.
