From time to time, we let experiences in our lives affect us too negatively. They catch us off guard, the mental pictures from those experiences repeat themselves in our minds, and we feel disheartened or worried about them all day, all week, all month or even longer in extreme cases.
These negative emotions can cause detrimental changes to the biochemistry of our bodies by releasing stress hormones. These stress hormones can slow down our rate of digestion, cause our blood pressure to rise, weaken our hearts, cause life-threatening diseases, and accelerate the signs of aging. According to some scientists, ongoing negative trauma can even alter the genes in our DNA causing adverse affects in our offspring two generations down.
What a heavy price to pay for something that is already torturous enough! But what if there was an effective way to stop negative thoughts from causing such inordinate damage to us? What if there was a practical way to stop negative thoughts from repeating themselves indefinitely? Keep reading and you’ll find the answer to those questions.
Negative thoughts and emotions give life to each other
In the renowned book, Mental Chemistry by Charles F. Haanel, Haanel explained the inexorable affect that our thoughts have on our emotions by comparing emotions to the fluidity of water. Suppose you have a tub of water and you stir that water in a circular motion. If you stir long enough and with enough force, that water will have enough force behind it to temporarily move whatever you’re stirring it with. And it will be noticeably difficult to stir that water in the opposite direction because of the initial resistance caused by the ongoing momentum.
Your emotions are like flowing water and your thoughts stir them toward the direction of either positivity or negativity. The intensity and the rate at which you repeat a thought determines the intensity and the strength of the emotion that correlates with it. And the more forceful your emotions flow in a particular direction, the stronger the initial resistance when you try to change the direction of that movement by thinking opposing thoughts.
Undoubtedly, you have heard that positive thinking will change negative emotions to positive emotions. And undoubtedly, you have tried this approach and it didn’t always work for you as well as you hoped. That is because the momentum of those negative emotions is too strong because of the constant punctuation of negative subconscious thoughts that are continually giving power to them.
Positive thinking will change the physical composition of your mind over time and should obviously be taken seriously. But it will not stop the cycle of negative thoughts and emotions as immediately as another approach will.
“Stop thinking, and end your problems.” — Lao Tzu
The most practical action you could possibly take to resolve this issue is to simply stop thinking. When you’re already in a negative frame of mind, you’re going to have the natural inclination to think along the same lines that those emotions are guiding you. You may think that trying to rationalize your problems while in this frame of mind will increase your understanding of them, but this approach will only lead to you feeling worse about yourself because you’d be focusing on your problems while negative emotions have their influence over you.
So break this cycle by stopping your thoughts entirely until this negative feeling goes away. With nothing to feed them, those negative emotions will gradually lose their strength like water that has ceased to be actuated.
If you do this, you will experience a new level of mental freedom.
—
If you liked this article and want to read more, consider subscribing to Inspiration Pro for free updates and stay connected.
