Positive The things to which you pay the most attention will resonate within yourself. Whatever you truly appreciate, you will surely become. The more you appreciate the beauty in the world, in the people around you, and in life, the more truly beautiful you will be. When you value integrity in others, you cannot help but increase the integrity of your own thoughts and actions. Do you ever react to the good fortune of others with envy and resentment? Such an attitude will poison your own possibilities. Instead, let yourself genuinely admire the discipline, effort and commitment that go into creating an impressive accomplishment. Then you will share in the richness of that accomplishment by building within yourself the values that make such things possible. Thinking positively brings you nothing of value if you are selfishly positive. It is by being generously positive that your thoughts can lead to a brighter future, for yourself and for the world around you. Let yourself see the positive in all things and in all people. The goodness and richness you sincerely appreciate will be yours too. -------------------------------------------- Beyond Yourself Take a step in the direction of freedom, in the direction of power and effectiveness, by taking a step away from your own ego. Go beyond seeing everything in terms of you, and you'll go beyond many of the limitations that hold you back. Take a step away from the concerns of your ego and you'll be stepping away from a lot of useless needs that only hold you back. You'll be stepping away from envy, spite, the need to prove yourself, and the constant worry about how others perceive you. What if you had no worries and could not be tempted to stray off course? What if you had the courage to act without being stopped by the fear of failure? Imagine the power of being able to stay totally focused, immune to all destructive and wasteful habits. The more you can get beyond your ego, the more courage and focus you'll be able to maintain. When your energy is no longer being drained by your ego, that energy becomes available to do wondrous things. When you step away from being so consumed with yourself, you step up to a higher level of experience and achievement. Take that step up. Go beyond yourself and fulfill the very best of your possibilities. -------------------------------------------- Crowd it out Fighting against negative thoughts will not rid you of them. In fact, the energy you set against those negative thoughts will only make them more intense. When you try to dismiss a negative thought directly, that only causes you to think more about it. Instead, turn your attention to something else. Rather than rejecting the negative thought, replace it. Override it with a positive, creative, constructive thought. Crowd out the negative thoughts by keeping your mind busy with other, more uplifting endeavors. That works much better than trying to push the negative thoughts away. Your mind is always filled with one thought or another. Keep a supply of positive thoughts on hand, ready and waiting for you to focus upon. Keep yourself busy with positive, productive endeavors. And the negative thoughts won't find their way into your attitude. Marilyn L. Ali