Positive Thinking in Practice

Of late, I have been catching up with some reading. I read Deepak Chopra's "Ageless Body, Timeless Mind", and Stephen Hawking's "The Theory of Everything". Both the books reinforced my strong conviction in oneness of the universe (energy continuum) and the ability of the human consciousness (an integral part of the universe) to leverage the infinite power of the universe towards the achievement of human ambitions.

In "Ageless Body, Timeless Mind", Deepak Chopra argues that we age because we tell ourselves that we ought to age. Quite in line with the concepts propounded in Rhonda Byrne's prolific revelation of "The Secret" which propounds that thoughts are magnetic, and that one's thoughts become things. Chopra recognizes that a thought is nothing but an energy or information impulse that we send out to the universe; and we learn in "The Secret", that the universe responds to the signal (thought) we send out, analogous to the Genie which tells its master every time he makes a wish "Your Wish is my Command" - and thus the human thought manifests itself as things in his life. For me, it was a revelation to understand that anatomically humans are ideally supposed to be able to live well beyond 100 years, humans having the longest lifespan among mammals, at a known maximum of 115-120 years! But humans in general have started to accept that they become grand old people when they are past 80 -and it is this acceptance that "I ought to be frail at 85" is what goes out to the universe as a wish and it gets manifested in our lives (after all, "Your wish is my command!"). But the beauty is that we can change this - we can unlearn this forever, for each of us has the right to live our full possible biological lifespan - by simply changing our assumptions and beliefs. Personally, I see sense in this argument, and consider worth giving it a try! I strongly recommend readers to read "Ageless Body, Timeless Mind" to have a firsthand narration of an alternative to growing old.

I have observed that most behavioural coaches (authors, trainers, speakers) seek to channelize full responsibility of a person's life into his own hands, making him the architect of his own destiny. The motto seems to be "I am in charge of my life. I am not at the mercy of what happens to me, because I have the choice to respond thoughtfully to what happens to me, and in this thoughtful choice lies the secret of what happens to me henceforth". Stephen Covey calls it "proactiveness" in his famous work on "7 Habits of Highly Effective People". Proactiveness as opposed to "reactiveness" gives responsibility to the individual —responsibility be read as “response-ability”— the ability to choose one's response. Covey argues that a proactive person recognizes this responsibility, i.e. he does not crib about circumstances, conditions, conditioning etc.; on the contrary his behaviour is a result of his own conscious choice (based on values and not based on feelings).

All that have been written and preached on behavioural development have one common underlying thread - and that is positive thinking. Thinking that something is possible versus something is not possible, or something is good versus something is not good; thinking that elicits creativity versus destructiveness, good feelings versus bad feelings; thinking that facilitates orderliness versus entropy, celebration versus condemnation. It is argued that if one's mind is preoccupied with net positive thoughts, then positivity manifests as good things in one's life. If one can inculcate the habit of being able to - not just in good times but even in the midst of adversity - always see the brighter side of things versus the darker side, and concentrate on those aspects that generate positive feelings (emotions of joy, happiness, strength, well being, gratitude ...) versus the ones that generate negative feelings (emotions of sadness, fear, loneliness, weakness, sickness ...), then life is bound to yield net positive results by attracting more and more of positive things into one's life, and in the long run make life bountiful, abundant, thriving and prospering.

Easier said than done? Not really if you can strategize positive thinking, that is, create the circumstances that by construct channelize positive thoughts into your mind. The key lies in lifestyle management. Inculcating some simple habits can ensure that one's predominant thought trait is positive.

Regular Physical Exercise, Balanced Diet and Stress Management are the cornerstones to personal well being. The human body was designed for activities such as hunting and agriculture - these are kind of activities that demand substantial physical exercise. In today's economy, with work being mostly of sedentary kind, there is need to create alternative ways for physical activity. 45 minutes of walking for 5 days a week could provide for a healthy level of physical activity for the body. Similarly the diet regime should be rich in fruits & vegetables, adequate in terms of carbohydrates and proteins, laced with nuts and fish, and low on fats and red meat. Supplementing these with a good stress management regime including proper sleep, lot of laughter, indulging in something creative like writing or painting, singing or playing an instrument, leisure including periodic vacation from work, going for an outing, reading a good book, enjoying a good movie, connecting with nature, yoga and meditation, socializing with friends and family - can do wonders for us.


Similarly practising Vaastu elicits positivity into your home, and its repercussions are positive for all members of your household. The other powerful way is to facilitate Top of the Mind Recall of positive experiences. One's surroundings should be resplendent with imagery that reinforces positive emotions. For example, there should be easy ways of repeatedly reminding yourself of episodes or events from the past that reinforce positive emotions - it could be a photograph from a memorable trip, certificates or medals that remind of past achievements, or anything symbolic like the "Gratitude Rock" prescribed by "The Secret" that can be kept in your pocket so that every time you feel it with your fingers you are reminded of the good things that you have had or been through in your life - for which you are grateful. All in all, it is important to keep feeling good as much as possible. It is bound to invite more & more of goodness into our lives.


It is natural to be skeptical about the power of positivity if you have not been an ardent student of quantum physics. In my opinion quantum physicists are the most well equipped people on earth to understand where we have come from, what happens to us and where we are going from here. We are all part of a quantum world, and events can be analyzed at their ultimate granularity at the quantum level. The power of positive thinking is real in the quantum world. We are all connected - it is like we are in a network (a matrix?) spun by invisible strings that bind everything together. You pull one string, and it is bound to cause a sequence of string pulls across the matrix, and since you are a part of the matrix, it ought to influence you in return. I know that's too simplistic an analogy. But the message is - We are all one. The perception of separation in space & time are the result of the limitation of our humanly frames of reference. We should not be fooled by our limited faculties of reasoning and perception to believe that we can only do as much as we are currently doing. A good extent of our destiny is in our hands. We can pull the strings of the cosmos and achieve the unfathomable.


Stephen Hawking is trying to find an unifying theory "The Theory of Everything" including quantum physics, gravity and all other interactions of physics. The day this is established, all skepticism shall be put to rest. Until then, no harm in believing it on face value, and continuing to experiment with the Secret... "Ask, Believe, Receive" and experiencing the power empirically.


There is an old song that goes like:


"We’re in the same boat brother,
We’re in the same boat brother,
And if you shake one end,
You gonna rock the other
It’s the same boat brother"