A librarian used a book he had never read to destroy thousands of other books. How was this possible? This simple riddle or lateral thinking puzzle relies on the idea of a “librarian” and “never read” to encourage you assume that it is all about the kinds of books you read. Get away from that assumption and you might stumble upon the solution – that he used a book of matches to burn all the others.

Such puzzles are good mental exercise, and fun as well, but not all lateral thinking problems are word play or simple puzzles. Many are designed to require or encourage creative thinking about more realistic scenarios. They often have many possible solutions.

You may not like the inconclusive nature of this kind of puzzle or problem – at least at first. It is common to want one definitive solution, so you know you’re “right” once you have come to a conclusion. But the more open-ended lateral thinking problems are just as good for exercising your creativity, and the thinking skills developed from working on them may be more applicable to real life situations, where there is rarely one definitive solution.

Situational Lateral Thinking Problems

In these problems, there is usually a scenario or situation which is explained, and a goal to accomplish. For example, suppose you need to get a basketball out of a 12-foot deep pit that has smooth cement for the floor and walls. It is square, about four feet per side. You are alone, and have only what you are wearing, plus what is in your pockets. Using nothing else, how can you get the basketball out?

This is a lateral thinking problem because it requires you to think “laterally.” This means coming at problems from other angles, as opposed to the more traditional linear or logical approaches. In this case, it means using what you have in ways that these things are not normally used.

For example, you might make a “basket” of your t-shirt, tying shoelaces to the four corners. Then you could unravel the threads from your socks to make a string that would lower the shirt. The idea would be to move the basketball onto it and then pull it up. Moving the ball might be accomplished with a shoe hung on the end of a string made of strips of clothing, which you use to “kick” the ball into the right place.

Another solution: A piece of paper from your pocket might be chewed and dropped onto the ball using shoe laces and clothing for a string. When it dries it would perhaps “glue” the line to the ball, so it could be pulled up. A tall person might “chimney” his body up and down the pit to get the ball, as climbers do with rock walls that are a few feet apart. There are undoubtedly other possibilities here.

Life itself presents us with many lateral thinking problems, at least if we look at situations the right way. For example, a judge in a Michigan child custody case went beyond the traditional thinking about how much time the children would spend at each parent’s house. Instead, he decided that the children would stay right where they were in the home they knew, and the parents would move in with them on alternating weeks. That’s a good example of applying lateral thinking to real life problems.

The path you are going to take is not a smooth one, instead it is tortuous and very bumpy. Without exercising positive thinking you could be flung out of the path and it will be very hard to regain your former position.

Positive thinking is a matter of mind-set. You will become what you think you will be. If you always think positively, positive things will happen to you. Negative thinking will bring about negative things. That’s what “The Secret” (a book by Rhonda Byine) is all about.

Once I learned something interesting from a network marketer. Network marketer is a job that provides conducive chances to exercise positive thinking. One network marketer dreamed for a luxurious car. He affirmatively kept on imagining that he had already secured one. A few years later, he succeeded to own that car of his dream, of course after some actual hard work.

Mary Kay Ash once stated that you should not restrict yourself. You could go anywhere your mind takes you. It means that you will get what you are convinced of.

Shun any negative statements or excuses such as :
- I just can’t, I have no talent.
- I have no money to start with.
- I come from a poor family.
- I am not properly educated.
- I am already too old, I am still too young.
- I am already contented with what I am now.

Lots of people, formerly haunted by those negative excuses, have eventually proven themselves to be able to get what they focused in mind. If you stay away from those negative thinking, your dreams are getting much nearer to materialize. As Walter Staples said : “The key to success is to control what you think about, for you always get what you keep telling your mind you want.”

I believe that positive thinking is the main tool that was given to us in life to help us survive the good times and the bad times! If your like me ,sometimes positive thinking is the only thing we have to grasp ! I remember growing up not ever knowing about my Father which was really devastating ,especially living in a house with 5 women! Now let me tell you, that was a rough time and i did a lot of positive thinking back then. Back to my father ,The story is, that he Died on the job working on some power lines ! that’s it folks ! That’s all they gave me to swallow for years as a young child. Now all my life i have wonder over and over again even now ,was there more to this story? So as a child young when i had my alone time with my mother away from my sisters i would try to pick her brain about him because i just needed peace and mind about who and what my father really was ! Still Nothing to this Day i get the same story so i guess that was a hard time for my mom cause she never re-married. Now it was really rough going to my friends house seeing the life they had with an traditional family and experiencing quality time with Dad and son fishing trips or just a little Game of Catch every once in awhile in the yard ! Now that was the world i could have gotten use to but unfortunately i was stuck with mom And my 4 crazy sister ! So what did i do to find a father figure in my life? I walked 14 blocks to my grandmother house everyday just to be next door with my friend nick and his Dad .(uncle chuck) I believe Uncle Chuck saw it in my eyes that i was on a mission and searching for a male figure in my life! I had two lives , one at home with the girls and another with the boys! this man took me in and made me his on! Now the only bad part about that was when the boy’s got in trouble, that meant i was in trouble too, but that was OK because i was happy and i knew the rules and the circumstances !He taught me a lot and i knew if i kept thinking Positive that i would find my way to his heart and i did ! Understand when other friends came over to play and we were grounded then that meant i was the only one who could come over ! But being at home with the girls was a different story. Being there some days i just wished i could run away because of all the chaos my sister put on my mother made me feel really uncomfortable being the only guy in the house.I believe that is when, i started my new way of positive thinking ! For most of you who have had a older sibling you can pretty much picture your brother or sister being a teen doing all crazy things that most teenagers encounters in their youth. Now that’s was a scary time for me because when they missed that 10:30 check in on the weekend doing whatever they did out all night long ,but when that happened ,no one was asleep that night because you know how the old saying goes if momma ain’t happy ,then nobody is happy and i was not being awaking from a good night sleep to wake up from the chaos that my family created that night when my sisters arrived at 1 a.m. in the morning! So your thinking to yourself , Whats does this have to do with the new positive thinking? Well of coarse, I’m getting to point right now ! You See when i look back at all that drama that unfolded before my eyes everyday or weekend in my house i understood one thing about me! I always had a grip on Life! Meaning , i always knew that no matter how many times my sisters got in trouble that they would always come to me for help which was strange because keep in mind ,these are my sisters which who are older than me but still was looking for a shoulder to cry on with Advice or a positive message just to end their horrible night they just experienced with Mom! Now now matter how many times that happen to them i always gave them something good to walk away from and to me it was just simply common sense not to do bad and always think positive no matter what the world puts in front of you but sometimes life passes people by so fast, that it just doesn’t hit home and then you have the effect of time not waiting on no one! the main Question is ,did my sisters ever act right or start thinking positive ? no ! I will say this , i WAS THE ONLY PERSON IN MY HOUSE WHO WAS NOT ASKED TO LEAVE AFTER HIGH SCHOOL ! Matter or fact i had a roommate at 17 then had my first job at a long job silvers and even bought my own car ,after that it was history!! I always new ,once i had a chance to be on my own then i would soon find myself , And once i did let me tell you about how powerful positive think can work for you! I met a lot of great teachers ,positive powerful people and strong powerful friends who i will never forget!

Why is the new positive thinking so important in life?

Everyday we come across some obstacle, such as a mean boss or co-workers or people who are just not happy with life because of the negative influence in life that they had to deal with for ever ! Now i know every person that you meet has had a bad story from yesterday all the way to their child hood! My main topic is can you get over the hump? For example ,when i announce that me and my ex -wife was getting Divorce the whole community shook up bad vibes!we were the talk of the town ! Now living in a small town that’s doesn’t seem small, when you know people and all they have to do, all day long ,is talk about people’s problems, then you must know what I’m talking about ! But the most important thing is, Divorce wasn’t so bad after at all like we’ve all heard it would be ! Now keep in mind my Ex wife is no Cinderella ( and I’m no prince charming)but now she is a great friend and it makes most people uncomfortable to notice that ! Why, because when you mention the D word in your family or community, church or where ever your people are they try to predict your out come of your life AND MAKE UP RULES ON HOW YOU ARE SUPPOSE TO MORN YOUR DIVORCE or basically try to live your life’s outcome for you ! I’m sorry folks but when you decide to think a certain way and add some strong beliefs in your life then no matter what situation you come across ,with a Brand new way of Positive thinking you will always be on the Right Road to success ! Me and my ex made the Decision to be great friends for the kids because they deserved a good life with both parents regardless of the outcome ! I support her and she supports me and its a wonderful

God bless and always, Have a great day today, because tomorrow is just a gift, if you make it there !

Brand new positive thinking

by Lemmy Moore

Heart attack is one of most dangerous serial killers in the world and women are more prone to becoming its victims. We all know that this killer prefers attacking those with an unhealthy and sedentary lifestyle. But did you know that negative thinking also makes you more vulnerable to heart attacks? Yes, your habit of constantly worrying, expecting the worst, fretting over every small thing can actually invite heart diseases into your life!

How does negative thinking affect your heart’s health?

Researchers at the University of Kentucky found that patients who had negative thinking patterns, such as thoughts about not being able to justify their own existence, were at higher risk for developing depression. Heart patients with depression were shown to have more complications, including a higher risk of death!

Your negative thoughts increase your stress levels and prevent you from focusing on attaining good health. When you are more focused on how unfit you are or how unfulfilling your life is, you are unlikely to take steps to improve your health. A negative thought pattern promotes a pessimistic and fatalist attitude.

Spiritually, negative thoughts are believed to affect the heart directly. Symbolically your heart stands for your ability to love. Therefore, holding yourself back from freely receiving and giving love can also cause heart problems.

Therefore in order to keep your heart healthy you must try to think positive. Positive thinking does not just mean expecting the best from life. It also means looking for good in everyone and giving up on your cynicism. Positive thinking includes positive self talk, i.e. believing in yourself and appreciating yourself for who you are. It stands for adopting a new approach to life, an approach which helps you find mental peace and satisfaction.

How to think Positive?

Thinking positive is probably easier said than done. Often when we try to think positive our mind plays spoil sport. It seems to control us and sneaks in negative thoughts and worries at every opportunity. If only we could learn to control our thoughts, we would be able to control our minds, instead of it working the other way round! It’s not that difficult a task, if we adopt the right approach. The following tips may help.

Make conscious efforts to avoid negative thinking: We get so used to our negative thinking pattern that sometimes we don’t even realize when we slip into it. However, whenever you do realize that have fallen into the trap of negative thinking, consciously divert your mind to something positive, unrelated to your present negative thought. For instance if you catch yourself worrying about losing your job, stop yourself and divert your attention to an enjoyable game or recently watched movie. Because of your habitual thinking patterns, it may be difficult for you to suddenly start expecting the best out of every situation; in such cases it’s better to first learn to stop yourself from negative thinking by consciously distracting your mind.

Positive Affirmations: Telling yourself that you expect the best from life and looking for the silver lining in every situation will help bring about a shift in your perception. The logic is simple, if you are told throughout your life that you are a bad dancer, no matter how much potential you have you’ll eventually start viewing yourself as someone with two left feet, without even trying to learn how to dance! Similarly if you tell yourself repeatedly that you have full faith in yourself and expect the best from every situation, it will become your truth.

The following affirmations can help you adopt an approach of positive thinking towards life:

“I love and appreciate myself” (This affirmation helps you get rid of the pattern of negative self-talk)

“It’s safe for me to express my feelings” (This helps you overcome the negative thinking pattern which makes you fear other people’s reactions to your feelings)

“I deserve to love and be loved” (This frees you from the negative thoughts like “I don’t deserve to be loved” or “I am not good enough”)

“I trust life to bring the best to me” (This frees you from your habit of expecting the worst from life)

“I now attract kind and loving people into my life” (This will help you look for good in everyone and overcome your cynical attitude)

Keep yourself busy- You may have observed that you tend to think more when you have nothing to do, however if you keep yourself busy, you won’t have time to dwell on negatives. Nurturing a hobby, learning something new, exercising, reading and listening to music etc are all enjoyable ways of keeping yourself busy. Doing things that you enjoy, will also keep you in a happier frame of mind- and when happy you are more likely to feel optimistic and think positively.

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 What is new is that people have started to notice the cause and effect of their thinking. And what results their thinking produces, popularized by recent films such as “What the bleep do we know?” and “The Secret.”

These movies uncovered man’s desire and want to live more deliberately. People started taking more responsibility for what they were creating in their lives and in their world. Authors such as Wayne Dyer started teaching people how to change the way they looked at things and the things they looked at would change. People began to uncover the incredible power of results oriented thinking.

Also unfolding was how their thinking was producing illness, stress, worry and anger. The science of results oriented thinking is the understanding that you create your reality by the thoughts you have, the feelings produced and the actions you take because of the thought and feelings generated.

The science of results oriented thinking takes it a step further when we look at how your thinking becomes habitual in areas that you do not pay attention to normally. Thinking and speaking patterns are learned in childhood and passed down from generation to generation in a family. If you listened to your parents or caretakers talk and speak in complaints, most likely you learned to speak in complaints.

This does not make you a “complainer.” In the science of results oriented thinking this is just a habit not who you are. There is a big difference here because you have fundamentally been trained from the time you were a child to have your thinking brain scan the world to look for things to complain about. You are not a complainer, you are merely experiencing what it is that your brain was trained to scan for and produce.  

This is great if your brain was trained to scan and bring you success, health, wealth and the perfect partner. Then you are experiencing what you want. However, if your mind is trained to scan for complaints, fear, anger or depressing thoughts then you are suffering unnecessarily. You can be on medication for no reason at all. You can sabotage your results without knowing it, simply because of how your thinking mind has been trained to scan and produce for you.

Uncovering your thinking minds inner potential to create your reality as you want it, requires that you examine how you have been taught to think and scan the world. Your mind and thoughts bring you back exactly what you tell it to bring you. When you learn how to use the science of results oriented thinking to retrain your mind, you will be masterful and free to design the life you wish.

What are these critical thinking skills? They are habitual placing of truth above any other considerations, and the derivative skill of self observation and awareness. We all know how to look at something, yet we often see not what is there, but what needs to be there to confirm our beliefs. Truth has to be above even our beliefs if we are to have the most powerful mind possible.

We also all know how to use logic to support our conclusions. But our conclusions are often arrived at by a process we are only partially aware of. To see where they really come from, and therefore whether they truly align with the truth, we need to see into our own thought processes.

The Ego Problem

The humblest person still usually has an ego so big that he can’t see past it. By that I mean that whatever he thinks of himself, he sees that as important. This tendency to create and defend a ’self” clearly gets in the way of developing ones critical thinking skills.

Let’s look at a simple example. Have you ever noticed that you can predict some people’s behavior better than they can themselves? Amy will be late, though she thinks she’ll be on time. Eric is excited about the new get-rich-quick MLM business he’s in, but his friends all think he’ll be out of it in a year – and they’re right. Now, it would seem that a person should know more about himself or herself than any outsider, and therefore have a better ability to predict his or her own future behavior.

The truth is that we don’t see things as clearly when they involve our self images. You might say “that’s not true in my case!” If so, thank you. That immediate reactive need to defend yourself makes my point. A more rational response would be to say, “Hmm, is this true? Do I distort things to retain my sense of self?”

Okay, it’s possible you have investigated this thoroughly and found that you are indeed the rare individual who is truly and always objective. But if you haven’t done this “self work” and done it well, a reactive “not me” is premature, and a great example of the forces that distort our view of reality whenever it touches on our view of ourselves.

It is tempting to think that this is only relevant in areas directly and obviously related to ones self image, and that we can still be objective about things like politics, or science, or money issues. But that just isn’t the case. The “ego effect” is far more subtle than that. For example, you might think that a given political or philosophical view you have is correct, and it may be. But if evidence to the contrary is presented, do you find yourself automatically defending your belief?

Think about that. If truth was truly the goal, you would be happy to find it, even if it overturned everything you believed. But we identify with our beliefs in the same way we identify with our bodies, our families, countries, and even our houses and other things. They are a part of our “ego self,” and so are defended as though or true self was under attack. That is not a recipe for objective thought, is it?

Now if a man believes that stocks should sell for 40 times earning, or that donuts are healthy, we can see how these mistaken beliefs can be disastrous. But anytime we think and operate according to beliefs that are not in line with the truth, with reality, there is a danger. To have the most powerful mind you can have, then, you need to habitually look for truth more than confirmation of existing belief, and to do that you need to be aware of what is going on inside your own mind. These are the critical thinking skills that are most important.

It seems that those who come from a place of scarcity take
whatever they want, perhaps in spite of what they need. But
those who come from a place of abundance in their hearts and
minds take only what they need. As a coach who helps solo
service professionals attract an abundance of clients, I
encounter scarcity thinking quite a bit. (I had to tackle that
monster myself at one point!) A catastrophe like Katrina can
shift our thinking almost immediately from being afraid of never
having enough to being overwhelmingly grateful for what we do
have. I’m sure many of you can tick off thanks for your health,
your loved ones, your home, and your full pantry, at the very
least.

What scarcity thinking does to us:

Scarcity thinking makes us hoard. For example, do you “save”
certain clothes to wear for special occasions only? Yet by the
time you decide that the occasion is “good enough” to wear it,
it’s either out of style or doesn’t fit or is in some other
state that makes it no longer wearable? Why don’t you just pull
it out and enjoy it now? Because there’s that little voice that
says you might not have something to replace this one if you
spilled something on it, or it got torn or damaged in another
way, right?

Scarcity thinking stops us from giving. And not giving puts a
plug in all that the universe wants to send our way. One of the
mantras in the Client Abundance coaching programs is “Giver’s
Get.” In other words, the more you give – of your time, your
skills, your compassion, your help and support, and yes, your
money – the more you get back. It may not always take the same
form, but it’s true…the more you give, the more you get.

For example, several years ago there was a family in our
community who lost everything to a house fire. I didn’t know
them and things were tight for us at the time, but I wrote them
a small check and a note with my prayers. A few weeks later, I
received a project that was three times the fees I had ever
received to date.

What abundance thinking does for us:

And this is what abundance thinking does for us. It opens up
possibilities and opportunities that would never have be able to
make themselves known to us if we weren’t open to receiving
them, open to the concept that there is enough for everyone, and
that we are good enough to not only deserve abundance, but to
desire it as well!

The best part of the ‘givers get’ belief is that you don’t even
have to believe it for it to happen in your own life.

Now think about what you would do if you found yourself in
similar circumstances as Hurricane Katrina has ravaged on so
many people. Would you take just what you need? Would you lend
whatever you had left to help another? Would you seek to repay
whatever it is that you “borrowed” in some other way? Recognize
if your thinking comes from a place of not having enough
already, or from knowing that there is always more than enough.

Right now, decide to live life with abundance thinking and
action. Complete the following exercises and watch abundance
flow your way:

1. What is one action you could take to move from scarcity
thinking to abundance thinking?

2. Do you need a physical reminder to change your thinking? A
rubber band on your wrist that you snap each time you find
yourself falling into scarcity thinking can do wonders in a very
short amount of time!

3. Repeat every morning and every night – with feeling!: I
embrace abundance and abundance embraces me.

Do you feel a shift in your thinking already? Good! Now, is
there something – money, blood, time, clothing – that you could
give to the relief effort that may feel uncomfortable as you
make this shift in thinking but you know would feel great once
you did so? Commit today to one thing and just do it. I promise
that it will come back to you in ways you can’t even imagine.

© 2005 Alicia Forest

Alicia Forest, MBA, is the author of “The Client Abundance
Training Manual: The Ultimate Guide to Driving an Abundance of
Clients to Your Business”. If you liked this article, you’ll
LOVE this step-by-step guide, guaranteed to be the most
comprehensive manual to driving an abundance of clients to your
business, consistently and easily. Find out more at
http://www.clientabundance.com/camanual.htm

Where has your past thinking taken you? Has your thinking led you to travel to wonderful destinations, obtaining beautiful possessions, creating great relationships, work that is enjoyable and challenging, or a life that is filled with joy and happiness? If not, why not? Does it have something to do with your thinking? Choose positive, creative, loving, life-affirming thoughts and see what it brings to your work, life, and world.

The Story You Tell Yourself: What story do you tell yourself when … the boss gives you extra work, when your customer doesn’t pay his/her bill, when you interact with a difficult co-worker, or when your child misbehaves. The story you tell yourself is highly influenced by past and repeated experiences. So much so, that if you would observe your thinking, you might find that most thinking, associated stories, and your responses to them are automatic.

Take the age old story of the driver who cuts in front of you as you are motoring down the road. What story do you tell yourself? Is the story one of fear, danger, and violation followed by aggressive emotions, words, and gestures? Many people, especially early in life, have been socialized to think and respond in that way. Or is your story one describing how the driver didn’t see you followed by shrugged shoulders. Another story could be that the driver was scurrying to the hospital with his wife lying on the back seat about to deliver a child (followed by a compassionate response).

Couldn’t any of these three scenarios be true? In each of the three scenarios, your feelings, emotions, and reactions will be governed by the story you tell yourself. Choose the right story and you create the most positive outcome for yourself and others.

Many of your experiences and the meanings you assign to them in work and life are repeated and become habitual stories. These stories then control and dictate your responses to future situations and experiences. Check it out.

How do you think when … you interact with a difficult coworker? How do you react and respond? What story do you tell yourself? Take other situations in your work and life, especially negative ones, and ask yourself, “What story do I tell myself? How does that story determine my feelings, emotions, and reaction?”

Being open to positive stories can lead to gathering more complete information and creating much improved interactions and outcomes.

The stories you tell yourself can be a conscious choice. What situations in your work and life can you apply new stories too, to experience more pleasant and positive responses and experiences?

There are at least three stories for each and every situation you encounter. Tell the right story and enjoy more of your work and life.

Response Able: I know people and I know you know people who are not “Response Able.” Put another way, they are not responsible! It’s not their fault. They didn’t cause it. Why it was the accounting department’s mistake (choose any department or entity you want). Their boss is a micromanager and s(he) will do it any way. The owner forces them to be this way. Their wife or husband is the problem. Life is just like that!

When you are not responsible, then you are not in control. Not being in control is easy and convenient, isn’t it? You’re not in control, it’s not your fault, and so you don’t have to be responsible. That’s just the way it is. Hog-wash!

You seize control and live life to the fullest, or you shrink away and live a mediocre existence. You take responsibility for your life (you ably respond), make positive choices, and create the life you want to live. You set exciting goals for your work and life, become responsible for results, and make them happen.

If you fall short, which we all will do from time to time, you ask, “What more can I do the rise above my circumstances and get the results I desire.” Then, you take that action. No snibbling, no waffling, no excuses, no pointing fingers, no blaming others, and no shrinking from the challenge. Just positive forward motion to create the results and work / life you want to live.

A life unexamined is not worth living. Examine your life now. Are you being responsible in all areas of your work and life? Are you in control or are other things and people controlling you. Are you able to respond to every life challenge in a positive and constructive way to create the life you want to live? Take your answers and make the changes you choose to become more “Response Able.”

Similarly, if you ask “what is thinking?” you tend to baffle your listener.

This is because there is no singular way of thinking.

It has even been said that you can make people do almost anything, except think.

While this is supposed to be funny. It is also sad, in a way.

Because thinking is essential to evolution. Both your own and that of humanity as a whole.

It is also ironic, because all we appear to do all day is think.

Yet can this ceaseless stream of thoughts really be classified as thinking? After all, it seldom results in new ideas, new solutions, or a new way to grow.

From this we can assume that thinking is more than stream-of-consciousness thinking.

It is, in fact, a discipline.

Thinking is a strategic game. Most people try to think through things without a strategy.

This results in a completely muddled thought process. And it is this that makes thinking difficult, frustrating, and something most people avoid.

However, once you introduce strategy into your thinking, it actually becomes enjoyable, the frustration disappears, and surprising and often paradigm-shattering answers appear.

Here are the two most famous ways of thinking.

The first is visual thinking. This method was named Gedanken, which is the German word for thought. But really, the translation is more a thought experiment. In other words, imagine a scenario which examines a question.

Einstein was a champion at this way of thinking, although he did not invent it. By imagining riding on a beam of light, he got rid of the idea of an ether and created the Special Theory of Relativity.

Similarly, Nikola Tesla said that he could run a machine in his mind to see if it worked properly.

This method is powerful because it occurs at the alpha or theta level of consciousness.

Alpha waves (8 – 12 Hz) are seen when we are both alert and relaxed. These waves decrease with physical activity. Theta Waves are 4 – 8 Hz . We see these brain waves when we are falling asleep or just waking up and during the early stages of sleep.

Another method was that of Socrates, who would ask questions, get an answer, and turn that answer into a new question. In other words, he would create a chain reaction, and be

able to probe deep into moral and philosophical concepts. This method revolutionized the soldier-farmer culture of Athens to become one of the most brilliant cultures per population number in the history of the world.

This thinking, I believe, functioned at the gamma level (26-80 Hz), the brain waves associated with higher level thinking, problem solving, and interpretive consciousness.

Incidentally, the reason why stream-of-consciousness thinking does not result in much originality, is because it is usually at beta waves, (12-26 Hz) which is a high stress or anxious type of thinking and because it is unsystematic. Basically, your thoughts run around in loops.

Ironically, one of the reasons for a decline in thinking, is modern education, with it’s emphasis on knowledge gathering, rather than interpretive thought. It is the result of an industrial age mentality, large numbers of people are taught the same thing similar to a factory that makes a large number of the same products. By stripping away individuality, it also does away with originality.

In education, today, with the emphasis on didactic teaching, thinking, in the sense of original and creative discovery, does not happen much. Usually, a teacher talks and a student listens and follows a reading assignment. The only feedback required of the student is to repeat back the ideas at some future time, and usually under conditions of a lot of fear and tension.

Because of the relative passivity of the student using this method, little is reflected upon and what has been memorized also soon fades away.

Besides the visual thinking method of artists and scientists and the questioning method of philosophers, another strategy of thinking has emerged, which, for want of a better name,

we will call creative thinking.

There are numerous methods of creative thinking, from brainstorming to lateral thinking to mind-mapping.

Here is one method that might prove helpful to you. This method is particularly good for completely baffling practical problems, in particular business or personal problems.

1. Write down everything about a difficult problem that bothers you. Blow off steam.

2. Write down all possible solutions. Do this until you feel you have exhausted every possible answer. The answers do not have to be original, just any answer. Also, don’t repeat an answer.

3. Do something completely unrelated.

4. Out of the blue, you will suddenly know the best answers from step 2 or you may even come up with something new.

The reason this method works is because it causes a break in neuronal habituation. Initially, in step one, you exhaust all aspects of your stuck state. Then in step two, you exhaust all known or possible answers. In step three, you let your subconscious mind do all the work. Finally, in step four, it gives you an answer.

The reason thinking is important is that it helps you to transcend levels of difficulties and evolve as a human being much faster. If the thinking is original enough, it can even evolve a whole culture or humanity as a whole.

So, if we can control our thinking, we can have those positive physiological responses in our bodies … instead of negative ones. Not to mention all the other wonderful benefits of positive thinking.

How do you apply the power of positive thinking in your own life?

The answer is simple…

STOP THINKING NEGATIVE THOUGHTS

Easier said than done – right?

One way to control your thinking is to turn from the negative subject and give attention to another. Change your thinking from the negative thoughts and think harmonious thoughts.

Amazingly, parents or caregivers of children, on a regular basis, apply this principle to stop negative thinking: DISTRACTION.

For example, when a child is upset because a toy has been taken from them by another child, the parent or caregiver will attempt to take the child’s focus off the negative situation.

If the child sits there and stares at the other child who took away the toy, the crying will continue. However, if that child is distracted to start thinking about something else, say the cute puppy playing in the yard, they have moved from negative thinking about the lost toy to positive thoughts about the cute puppy.

The requirement to ‘drop your negative thoughts’ – to let go of it as one lets go of a rock in the hand – can be difficult. But dropping the negative thought requires far less exertion in the long run than holding onto the negativity.

There are three mental actions which are essential to the training of controlling your thoughts.

* How to think.
* How to stop thinking any particular thought which may be in the mind.
* How to change the thinking from one thought to another.

While you are reading this article, you may be thinking, “it will just not be that easy to stop thinking my negative thoughts”.

Well, the early scholars on the research of positive thinking disagreed.

Edward Carpenter, profoundly stated near the beginning of the 20th century “If a pebble in our boot torments us, we expel it. We take off the boot and shake it out. And once the matter is fairly understood, it is just as easy to expel an intruding and obnoxious thought from your mind, as it is to shake a stone out of your shoe.”

When a negative thought creeps into your mind, you have the power to choose to banish the negative thought and call on a more uplifting one.

Try this mental exercise to help you STOP the negative thinking.

We all experience the frustrations of driving. In fact, driving is considered one of the most intense daily stressors we experience. If you find yourself reacting disapprovingly towards a fellow driver, and you feel those negative thoughts creeping in, try to change the image in your mind. Think of something that you find calming or uplifting. Maybe it’s your favourite vacation spot. Maybe it’s the smile on a small child’s face. Whatever it is, change your focus to that thought instead of the frustrating driver.

I hope that by doing this mental exercise, you will find that you allowed the fleeting frustration to pass and continued your drive with a much calmer and peaceful outlook.

If you truly want to experience the ‘power of positive thinking’, you need practice in earnest. You will need to persevere.

If you do your best to stop negative thinking, in ways that your own knowledge and experience suggest, you will learn the lessons of positive thinking.

You may learn more about yourself than you thought possible! The earnest practitioner of positive thinking will gain an understanding and power that will enable him or her to do what seemed impossible at the outset.