Often, if we allow our thoughts to race ahead of us, if we start to worry or obsess about potential consequences, we find that we often become the victim of our self-fulfilling prophecies. We worry too much about potential outcomes, and subconsciously our actions start to take us in that direction. It is not a coincidence. Our mind has an incredible capacity to lead us to action, to guide us towards outcomes.
But it works both ways. All too often positive thinking begets positive outcomes and negative thinking leads to negative outcomes.
It's all in how we choose to use the mind and how we guide our thinking.
Dr. Brenee Brown's research shows that one of the common traits of happy people is that they practice gratitude -- they practice it! In other words, when we stop and make time to express what we are grateful for, we lead ourselves towards happiness.
How we think leads us to the actions we take. The actions we take define us -- our character is defined by our actions. We control our character!
So that wellspring of our thoughts, we are well served to feed it with care.
But don't take my word for it:
"The thought manifests as the word;
The word manifests as the deed;
The deed develops into habit;
And habit hardens into character;
So watch the thought and its ways with care,
And let it spring from love
Born out of concern for all beings."
Buddha