Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life

We've all been there before. Every single person no matter how confident, talented, intelligent, or good-looking has felt low or negative at some point in their lives. As human beings, we are inherently complicated, and emotions are part of what makes us human.

These days though, because of certain stresses in life, including the increasingly always-connected nature of work and society, more and more people are suffering from negative thoughts and even depression.

It might be expected that as societies become more 'developed' then people would become happier. In fact in many so-called developed Western societies, incidences of depression continue to rise. You should never underestimate the power of positive thinking though.

One of the biggest problems in the modern age seems to be that people are always thinking about what they haven't got, rather than considering all the positives in their lives. This is actually more the case in richer countries with all the pressures put on people by advertising, and the consumer culture that is pushed upon them.

We are constantly being bombarded by messages of what to buy, what is 'cool', and how the celebrities are enjoying their lives. This leads to many feeling worthless.

Once you start to consider all of this it seems quite obvious why increasing numbers of people, especially teenagers, question their own self-worth. There is an alternative though: change your thoughts, change your life.

Instead of comparing yourself to anyone else, think about how you want to live your life and what positive steps you can make to improving your circumstances. The biggest change you can make though is to become more grateful for all the things you do have in your life.

If you are reading this then you have access to the Internet, and probably own a computer or smart phone. You, therefore, have a device allowing you access to practically unlimited educational resources for free! Just stop to think how incredible that is.

On top of that, you almost certainly have food and drink, a place to live, a family and friends, not to mention your health which is possibly the most important thing of all.

Of course, the world is full of suffering, with starvation, wars, slavery and a host of other terrible problems. This does not discount from the fact though that in rich Western countries, much of the negativity, anxiety and unhappiness that people are suffering from could be reversed if they made simple changes to their lives.

Instead of watching TV every day read a book or start an online course, rather than chatting on social media meet up with friends and family, and start exercising daily as this will dramatically improve your mood. It's also extremely important to stop focusing on what you don't have and start cultivating gratitude for what you do.

In fact, studies have shown that regularly practising gratitude "seems to kick off a healthful, self-perpetuating cycle in your brain" and physically changes it to increase happiness levels. It is almost like having a gratitude 'muscle' in your brain that can be exercised and strengthened through focusing more on what you are grateful in your life.

The more you strengthen this 'muscle', the more the feeling of gratitude and in turn happiness will arrive in your mind spontaneously. Ultimately this shows that through changing the focus of your thoughts through practice, you can actually improve your life.

If you found this post interesting, please share it and leave a comment below. I would love to hear your thoughts on this topic!