Choosing How You Feel

   You have the power to think whatever you choose to allow into your head. If something "just pops" into your head, you choose to put it there, though you may not know why, and you have the power to make it go away. You alone control what enters your head as a thought. If you don't believe this than answer this question; if you don't control your thoughts than who does? Is it your spouse or your mother or your boss? If they do then send them off to therapy and you will instantly feel better.
   You and only you control your thinking. Your thoughts are your own, uniquely yours to keep, change, share or contemplate. No one else can get inside your head and have your own thoughts as you experience them (excluding channeling, in which case permission is necessary). You control your thoughts and your brain is yours to use as you determine. You cannot have a feeling or emotion without first having experienced a thought. your feelings are physical reactions to your thoughts.

   Becoming a free and healthy person involves learning to be aware of your thinking. Once you learn to be aware of and change your thoughts, your new feelings will emerge. This is the first step on the road to personal freedom.
   Lets consider the case of John Doe, a young executive who spends most of his time agonizing over the fact that his boss thinks he's stupid. John Doe is very unhappy because his boss has a low opinion of him. Now would John Doe still be unhappy if he didn't know his boss thought he was stupid? No, how could he be unhappy about something he didn't know about? therefore what his boss does or does not think doesn't really make John Doe unhappy. What John Doe thinks  about what his boss thinks makes John Doe unhappy. He is unhappy because he believes what his boss thinks is more important than what he himself thinks.

   You have most likely grown up in a culture which has taught you that you are not responsible for your feelings. You've learned sayings to defend yourself against the fact that you do control your feelings. Here is a list of sayings that you have learned over and over and over; examine the message they send.

"You hurt my feelings"
"You make me feel bad"
"I can't help the way I feel"
"I just feel angry don't ask me to explain it"
"He makes me sick"
"Heights scare me"
"You're embarrassing me"
"She really turns me on"
"You made a fool out of me in public"

 

   The list is potentially endless. Each saying has a built in message that you are not responsible for how you feel. Now rewrite the list so it is accurate, so it shows the fact that you are in charge of how you feel and that your feelings come from thoughts you have about a given subject.

"I hurt my feelings because of the things I told myself about you're reaction to me"
"I made myself feel bad because I  let myself believe what you said about me"
"I've chosen to be upset"
"I've decided to be angry because I can usually manipulate others with my anger because they believe I control them."
"I make myself sick"
"I scare myself in high places"
"I'm embarrassing myself"
"I turn myself on whenever I'm near her"
"I made myself feel foolish by taking your opinions of me more seriously than my own and believing that others would do the same."

The message is clear you are the person responsible for how you feel. You feel what you think and you can learn to think differently about anything if you decide to do so. You do this by examining the thoughts that are leading you to your feelings and making new choices about these thoughts. This is true personal power.

Copy right: Rev. Roseann Osceola, Mason, Universal Flow