In our headlong rush to create a new, supposedly better reality for ourselves, there is a great danger of reinforcing a pervasive belief that what we have now isn’t good enough. Such an attitude is counter-productive and a sure recipe for unhappiness. But this constant focus on the future also causes us to ignore a potential source of creative gold: memories of happy experiences from our past. And those memories should not be overlooked, for their vividness in our minds gives them an extra creative potential that wishful thoughts about an imaginary future often lack.

The Past is Not Dead, But it Could be Killing Your Future

Once we have accepted the unconventional proposition that we create our reality with our thoughts, then the six-million dollar question inevitably becomes, “What are we setting ourselves up for by thinking what we’re thinking?” Through the cultivation of mindfulness, we must constantly observe our thoughts and emotions, and stand ready to police negativity that will cause problems if left unchecked.

What that mindfulness often reveals is that we spend a great deal of our time rehashing events from our past – usually bad ones. If just one little thing goes wrong with an otherwise decent day, you can bet your bottom dollar that you’ll be dwelling on that isolated incident, blowing it up out of all proportion and granting it a significance it almost certainly doesn’t deserve. Not only does this make you unhappy without good reason; it also sets in motion creative forces that will cause this poor quality of experience to expand. Think of it as a snowball effect or as a vicious circle, but you are going to get more of what you concentrate upon.

Sadly, we often end up using our creative power not to make the better future we want by concentrating on how things could be, but instead create a poorer future by focusing on the lousy things that have already been. This process is at work all the time, even for people who would laugh at the suggestion that their own thoughts and feelings affect their physical reality. Those of us who have made this breakthrough and perceived our own power ought to know better, but all too often fall into the same self-destructive traps as everyone else. It takes a tremendous degree of experienced mindfulness to learn this lesson. Read more… »