Our Thoughts Determine Our Reality - www.happytimes.world

Our Thoughts Determine Our Reality

I had an awakening today. I realized the true power of my journey to find my worthiness. I can remember five years ago when I was unhappy in my marriage and how I thought the redesign of my kitchen was going to be the key to a newfound fulfillment in my life. For the duration of the renovation, it was exciting watching my kitchen transform. When the construction was completed, I went shopping and bought all sorts of new things to complete the new look just perfectly. And as I sat in the beautiful kitchen after I completed the final touches, the same darn void was still there.

The massive project did not change a thing. That kitchen continued to be the same unhappy place it was before with a marriage that was tearing me apart. It wasn’t until today that I learned the depths of my transformation over the last 2 years post-divorce. You see today, I own a much smaller home and my kitchen is nothing spectacular but it is a source of great joy. My girls and I laugh so hard sometimes in my kitchen that we find ourselves rolling on the floor in tears. We have created so many joyous and heartfelt memories in our new home and we have all learned that what we really crave is peace, security, love and acceptance. We truly don’t need anything else. I would not trade my life today for anything. I am beyond blessed. I am able to look back over the difficult road I traveled stripping myself down of my people-pleasing behaviors, the masks, the raw vulnerability of sharing my stories with complete transparency and standing in some unimaginable truths. But you know what I gained from all of that…a huge respect and love of myself! I learned I am a really strong woman. I learned the true meaning of life and my 3 young girls are now learning the simple truths before they leave elementary school.

Our thoughts determine our reality and when we become aware of our thoughts and can reroute our thoughts to align with the emotions we desire to experience, we open the door to thriving. My oldest daughter struggled with crippling Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) three years ago and over the past year, I completely weaned her off her medication, and personally was able to witness the power of our minds. At the age of 6, my mom’s death seemed to trigger her OCD tendencies. Her life and emotions were completely at the mercy of her obsessive thoughts and ritualistic behaviors. At the recommendation of her pediatrician and after trying many different methods of therapy and behavior modification, we agreed that her brain was not responding without a chemical balance.

Medication seemed to be our only hope to give our daughter a normal life again. For a year, it seemed to provide some relief but then I began noticing it really was just a band aid approach and the persistent OCD thoughts continued to rage a war inside her head as they battled for the opportunity to control her again. Her future happiness depended on the treatment of the root cause of her OCD: her thoughts. As a Life Coach, I knew the scientific findings proved we are capable of reprogramming our brains. And so I began therapy with my daughter through our daily talks. She soon was able to vocalize what was going on behind the scenes in her mind and we fought a daily battle to eliminate and replace the negative self chatter with positive affirmations.

Her thoughts now had reached a fork in the road: they could continue down a painful path of rigid control and fear-based illusions or choose to reclaim their power and strive for inner peace. My daughter chose peace and I was able to show her the power of awareness and mindfulness first-hand. She learned that she wanted a better reality and she fought for it until her young brain was able to form new grooves that rerouted the worries to a place of contentment and peace. Those old deep grooves to fear and darkness no longer exist in her mind today. Within a few months, she had control of her reality and now she thankfully embraces a whole new way of approaching life. It all was possible when she realized she had a choice! How often do we forget to realize that we always have a choice? We always have the ability to take back our power.

When we live on autopilot, our life never has this clarity but mindfulness changes that. At the age of 9, a young child was able to choose how to live out the rest of her days. You have that same choice too today. So tonight, as you go to bed, decide if you want tomorrow to be the start of a new beginning for you. A day in which you desire to reroute some old programming and find your true worthiness and source of inner contentment and passion. Find the courage to take this bold step. Look deep inside and listen for the whisper that is telling you exactly what you need to hear to wake up with conviction and determination to live out your most fulfilling life. Claim your worthiness once and for all, and go in search of your inner peace. There is truly nothing more important you can do.

This article was originally written by Kristin Swarcheck and was published on The Huffington Post.


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