Change your shoes, change your mind!

How many times have you put on a certain shoe and something just wasn’t quite right?   You had envisioned how your outfit would look and imagined all the heads that would turn when you would walk into the room.  In fact, you had already gone over in your mind exactly which shoe you would wear to top off the outfit.  You glance at yourself in the full-length mirror, expecting to be mesmerized and then you come to the quick realization that you look “a hot mess”.

The shoe does not go with the outfit.  The outfit needs a pointed toe shoe and you are wearing platforms that are far too “clunky”.  So what do you do?  Do you get undressed and decide not to go out?  Do you change the entire outfit to fit the shoe? Or do you go back to the closet and search for another shoe that looks better. 

No problem, right?  In fact, after a quick search, you realize that you actually have several shoes that could accompany the outfit.

If it’s so easy to change your shoes to make an outfit look better, why do we struggle to change our thought processes, which can make our situation look better? Could it be fear? Rebellion? Habit? Stubbornness? The need to be right?

Cogito ergo sum, a Latin phrase, which means, “ I think, therefore I am”.  You are what you say and you are what you believe.  There is power in your thought patterns, which is why it’s so important to think and speak positively.  The Bible says in Romans 12:2, “ Be not conformed to the things of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind”.  To renew something is to restore to freshness or to rejuvenate.  This means that each day, you must begin the day thinking positive thoughts.  If you wake up pondering negative thoughts, your day will be negative.  You will wake up sluggish, uninspired and everyone that crosses your path will feel your negative vibe.  However if it’s raining outside, but you wake up saying,  “this is the day that the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it”, your day will be one that is filled with joy.

The day is not filled with joy by happenstance, but rather you have willed it into existence.  It all starts in the mind!  Your health, your wealth, your family, your job… EVERYTHING is governed by the way you perceive it and that happens in the mind first.

So let’s decide to not be moved and easily bothered by the various situations of life.  The outlook of the situation can be altered, just like your outfit took on a different look with a different pair of shoes.  Allow yourself to let go of those negative thoughts that only intend to slow you down and make you lose focus.  If you are constantly around negative people, who exude negativity…quickly walk away.  And if you’re the one with the negativity problem, go back to the drawing board and re-train your brain.  Assess the outfit, decide which shoe will complement your life better, change your shoes, and then change your mind.  Now walk it out!