WELLNESS WEDNESDAY TIP: CAUTION: POSITIVITY IS CONTAGIOUS I believe that I am not alone in saying that at one point or another we have all suffered from those moments when we find ourselves thinking: I don’t like the way I look. I am not as smart as that person. I am not strong enough to handle this. I don’t like my job. I am too tired all the time. I am not good enough. I don’t have enough time to get it all done. And the list could go on and on, about what we might say to ourselves on a daily basis. But what if we began to turn our negative thoughts into positive thoughts? What kind of change do you think it could bring to your life? I am going to share a story I read in the book Everyday a Friday by Joel Osteen, to show just how much positive thoughts can affect all of us. Helen, a Junior High math teacher in Minnesota had spent most of the week teaching a difficult new math lesson. The class had become unmanageable after the long week, so she decided to do something different. She asked them all to put their books away and take out a piece of paper. Her instructions were to write down everyone’s name in the classroom on the left and then on the right put down one thing that you like about that person. During this exercise the mood began to change as they wholeheartedly accepted the assignment. They began to laugh, interact, smile, and have fun, all because they had shifted their focus to positivity and thinking of nice things to say about one another. Helen went home and spent the entire weekend rewriting a master list for each student, to have their own copy of all the positive things people had to say about them. She did this so that she didn’t give away who said what about each person, and on Monday she gave each student their list. The kids became very excited to read what their classmates had to say. Helen had done the exercise just to settle down her class, and it ended up having far greater impact than that, and made them grow closer as classmates and more confident as individuals. Fast Forward 10 years, and Helen receives word that Mark one of the students from this class had been killed in Vietnam. At the funeral, Mark’s father asked Helen if she would please come back to their house. Once Helen arrived, the grieving parents took her aside to show her Mark’s wallet. They opened it up and pulled out two tattered and worn pieces of lined paper that had been taped, folded, and refolded many times over the years. Helen recognized her handwriting on the paper and tears came to her eyes it was her LIST from that day in Junior High. Mark’s parents shared with Helen how much Mark had cherished this list through his lifetime, and that he always carried it with him. They had wanted to thank Helen for the profound effect that this positive list had on their son. Still teary eyed Helen and Mark’s parents walked into the kitchen, where many of Mark’s former Junior High classmates were standing and talking together. When they saw the list, one by one they began to produce their own lists. Pulling them out of their purses, wallets, or confessing that they had it in a drawer, album, or file at home. Illuminating how much that simple exercise in positive thinking had changed all their lives. This story illustrates how a simple list of positive things about oneself, can have such a profound effect on a person. It touched my heart. So my challenge is to make your own list of positive things about yourself, and start saying those things instead of the negative. Change your don’ts to DO’S and your I am not’s to I AM. As I mentioned last week the power of belief is STRONG. So if you replace your negative tapes for positive ones, imagine the difference it could make in our life, and in the lives of those around us. It turns out that POSTITIVITY is infectious and contagious when exposed to it for prolonged periods of time. As Ghandi once said, “BE THE CHANGE YOU WISH TO SEE IN THE WORLD.” Yours in Health, Dr. Adam & Rebecca Middleton Like or share this article to be entered into a drawing for a free Kindle from our office. Also like our fan page at Middleton Chiropractic-Adam Middleton DC for another chance to win. Many of you are entered from last week, dont miss your chance to be entered again this week. Drawing will be held Dec. 16th, the more you participate the more chances you get to win!
Posted on: Wed, 30 Oct 2013 10:26:08 +0000
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