Faith Venture

Dr. Henry Cloud spoke at Willow Creek last weekend on his new book about happiness. One of his points was that happy people think differently from others. They are optimistic.

He didn’t say positive, as in “I’m positive the world is coming to an end.” Rather it’s a attitude toward life of looking for positive outcomes, ways to help, focus on doing something.

I like the word attitude in the sense they use it in flight. It’s not feelings, but orientation. You orient your life and thoughts either toward optimism or toward negativity. Thinks about people you know. Don’t some just have a generally negative attitude toward things? They always see the worst, suspect the worst, envy others, think they’re not valuable.

On the other hand, don’t you love knowing people who are always positive–even if not feeling cheerful? Or those who are focused on some goal or end point? They have a mission in life. They have a kind word for all. A smile.

One of the flight attendants on my flight yesterday morning was one of those people with a genuine smile (you can see it in their eyes). Not bubbly cheerful, which sometimes comes across as fake. She was the sort of person who helps get your day off to a great start.

What if you are in a state of negativity? Can you change? Of course you can.

First, you must cultivate an awareness of your own feelings. You can do this through a discipline of daily stopping to meditate, slowing your breathing and then scanning your mind and body. Bring to your awareness your thoughts. Whether you are holding stress in your neck, shoulders, hands.

Next, feel yourself getting warm and heavy. You can say to yourself, “My shoulders feel warm and heavy. My arms feel warm and heavy.” And so on. You can feel yourself sinking into the chair.

Next you can bring your awareness into positive thoughts of things you can do. Where can you be helpful? What mission is calling you?

Finally, act. When you change your behavior by acting upon a goal or end, then your thoughts will necessarily change with you.

This entry was posted on August 15, 2012 at 2:14 pm and is filed under Living. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.