Reach In to Reach Out

When slumped at the bottom of the heap it may sound close to impossible to give thanks be positive. When everything of “value” has been removed and nothing seems like it can ever go right, disaster seems to loom around every corner and then of course disaster piles up bringing a person lower, deeper and finding life pretty damn miserable indeed.  The current economic “crisis” is placing many and many more people in the position where they are at the bottom of their own proverbial heap.

I am at the bottom of my own pile of despair and trust me I have felt pretty damn low. I have though stopped worrying about things I cannot change but now focus more of what I can do and indeed make the change.  It’s not easy, when you don’t know where your next decent meal will come from or even if you will have a roof over your head tomorrow under which to eat the meal, but I do it and am finding out I do it well. Some call it “the power of positive thinking” but few when at the bottom find positive thinking easy.  However actually it is easy and it really just needs, as we say here in South Africa, an “A A K” or Attitude Adjustment Klap!

The AAK comes from being at the bottom and realising it, if you haven’t realised it and accepted it you cannot move in any other direction other than down. Accept the position where you find yourself and then believe you can do better and even in just small steps start think “things are ok” and begin to grow from the fact you are at the very least alive.  Don’t try and get up in a one big leap; don’t aim for the get rich quick approach. A small amount of money spent of a loaf a bread rather than a lottery ticket brings a guaranteed return; no going hungry. 

Once you have accepted where you are the change is easily possible and it starts from within.  A Positive Mental Attitude something all great thinkers have and so many rags to riches story characters possessed is key.  Napoleon Hill and Bob Proctor are two of the more modern era people who have taught this and are teaching it well, however in my mind the man with the most positive mental attitude of all is a humble man who wrote the majority of a book that Millions, maybe Billions rely on every day; Paul wrote a large majority of the New Testament that forms what we call The Bible. Imprisoned, beaten and pretty much living a life of disaster he never gave up on the fact life would improve and he would eventually gain eternal life in Heaven.  This blog today is not a Sunday morning sermon however the fact is that Paul was in a lower place in life than many person could even begin to imagine and he had nothing more than his thoughts, and his faith is God, to keep him going and lift him up each and every day.

Like Paul you need to find that positivity inside, even if it is no bigger than a grain of sand and be cheerful and positive at all the times even just on that grain of sand and grow it, the beginning and end of every one of Paul’s letters contain tremendous gratitude, thanksgiving and positivity that he had to reach deep inside to find. Because he reached deep inside and because he believed in himself and what he was saying without fear, embarrassment or even shame sincerity was conveyed and positivity shared was positivity returned and rewarded!  That’s the beauty of positive thinking, even forced positivity by forced I mean when you have acted in a manner to make you feel positive, the more positivity you feel, the more you share (sharing just happens positivity is contagious) and the more you receive back.

Even Bob Proctor would agree, until you have the positivity and self-belief and only when these become your majority feeling and thoughts, nothing can and indeed will truly happen!

So how do I do it? 

I find it inside me, I tell myself I want to find it, I want to have it, I want to feel it. I don’t care how small the thought is at first and I grab it, say thank you for it and it grows and I say thank you again and it grows and I say thank you again I say thank you again and it grows… I think you get the picture!  (the law of increase as Bob Proctor says). 

I do something to bring me pleasure; I am lucky enough to live on one of the most naturally beautiful beaches in the world and I make time to go there and absorb what it is and what is around me. I look around me and see nature and say thank you for it.  I open my heart, not just my eyes and think of the things in my life that give me pleasure,  the things I totally take for granted and even the craziest of things in my life that I HAVE and for all of these items I give thanks.  I give thanks in my thoughts and also write it down and even share it, my Facebook posts are affirmations a lot of the time and the fact they annoy some people means my happiness is being shared!  Happiness shared is Happiness gained, some are inspired others are just merely made to think I am a little crazy in the head.  Those inspired bless me, they say thank you and that boosts my own positivity and those who think I am crazy in my head are actually thinking “how does he do it?”  I suppose in the time of Paul that his letters were like my status updates, inspiring some and frustrating others but all the while spreading enthusiasm, positivity and even hope! But to spread this and reach out requires reaching in first!

Today I am blessed indeed, a slow and sometimes painful process of change but one that is bringing results and rewards and I want to share more and more!