You're Only Passing Through

My 3rd book! Yay! Spoiler alert, it's not about safety – surprise! I have been thinking about thinking. Yeah, imagine that, thinking about thinking. I know that sounds a little different; aren’t we always thinking about thinking? Well, it turns out that we sometime don’t take our thoughts into consideration. What I have discovered over the years is that we are often thinking in a negative manner.

As an example, it’s been said that trust in our society is in decline and that it is unlikely that we will be as trusting going forward as we were in the past. Now, that sounds negative. I believe that we are thinking in a negative manner much too often and, unfortunately, it leads to negative consequences in our lives. I believe that trust will improve in our society; it may take some time, but it will happen. Why? Because we want it to. I believe that truth and honesty will reign supreme. Okay, I know I have gone too far, so where is the middle ground? The aim of the book is to encourage the reader to assess their thinking.

Thinking about Thinking

STOP right now - are you thinking in a positive, negative or neutral manner?

I hope that you said positive. If not, what can you do to change your “train of thought”? Can you speed the “train of thought” up and get it out of your mind? Can you put the train on a different track and move forward in a more positive manner? Should you bring the train to a stop and really assess the positive things that you have going on in your life? Let’s do that; think about the things that you should be grateful for and then write them down.

What are you grateful for?

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From the above, I think that you get the idea. This book is not about safety. Instead, it is a “ride through a journey” not on the train of thought but on a plane. The book contains several encounters that I had while traveling to deliver the safety message. It considers the “train of thought” that is traveling through our minds all the time, by having conversations with people who were sitting beside me on several flights.

After all, if you think about it, it is your train of thought and you have control over the train.  When I sent a draft of the book out for people to read, there were mixed reviews, but people said they liked the book and, more importantly, that it had a positive impact on the way they were thinking. It got them thinking about thinking. They use the S.T.A.Rs to consider their thinking and have begun to think in a more positive manner.

What are the S.T.A.Rs? It is a model that I developed that helps to identify how negative thoughts can impact one’s life and how avoiding negative thoughts can improve situations and one’s life in general. Here is how it breaks down:

Situation – what is happening? Where is it happening? Why is it happening?

Thought – what is going through your mind? Why?

Action – what did you do? How did you feel as a result?

Result – what happened? Could the outcome have been more positive?

The book consists of multiple chapters, each with three parts. The first encourages a person to think about an important life topic. The second is a true story about a travel scenario that I experienced which ties in with the first part. Lastly, readers are encouraged to take some time to reflect. The premise is that people are prone to N.A.Ts (Negative Automatic Thoughts), but that P.A.Ts (Positive Automatic Thoughts) can counteract them.

Are you ready to start living a more positive life? In addition to the book, I have decided to post all the material for free and just hope to make a difference. If what I have to say helps you, please pass it along to someone else.

I have also attached “You’re Only Passing Through” materials:

1. Cards

2. Posters

3. Graphics

Be safe on your journey!

Wilson