Change the Thoughts. Change the Behavior.

"If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change."

Wayne Dwyer

I honestly don't think I will ever look at this critter from 

Pokemon Go

and think that it will change.

I have started to play the game with my daughter, and she has taught me that these critters do change.

There is an evolutionary process involved, 

and

I don't know how it works.

I am amazed that these critters do change, 

and
I am beginning to look at them with new eyes and hope for change.

The art of change is characterized by acceptance.  Once we quit fighting the change, the change becomes easier.  With acceptance comes growth.  With growth, like a plant, comes change.  Fruit is borne by the plant.  Hope for the future is implanted with change.

Sometimes, we get stuck.  I am one of those people who does not forget.  I might forgive, but I don't forget.  My daughter pointed this out to me, and I had to admit she was right.  I tend to nurse a hurt or injury given to me by another person.  That hurt becomes a seed in my soul, and infection sets in.

There are no antibiotics for this kind of infection.  Lately I have learned that rather than live in the negative, I need to work to change my thinking.  Yes, it's up to me, no matter how hard the hurt or how badly I feel.  I don't have to be a doormat.  I don't have to let those who hurt me back in my life, but I do have to forgive so that I can move on.  

I tend to nurture my hurts in my thoughts.  They go in a circle and implode and the hurt grows in my mind.  This is where the cycle must be broken.  I am learning, slowly but surely, to swim out of the water  and look at the bank rather than allow the murky water to drag me under.

If I am doing dishes, and the negative mindset creeps in, I must change that channel.  Sometimes, singing a song can do the job.  Other times, I must change my activity and my thoughts at the same time.  Although the dishes need to be finished, I might stop and go for a walk.  I seek life in the moment rather than in the past.  If it's a cool or cold day, I think about the air on my skin and how it feels.  I pick up a handful of snow and throw it up in the air.  I remind myself not to taste the yellow snow, and I laugh.  When I come home, if I fall back into the mode of negativity, I change the channel.  I make my bed.  I clean my drawer of socks.  I look at old photos and remember the good times.

Of course, you have to grieve your losses, but, I have learned that you do not have to allow them free rent in your brain.  I am not weak.  I am capable of change.  If I cannot do the job alone,  I seek help.  I seek to change my thoughts, and when I do, I find that my behavior changes.

I am happier with me.

I am happier with others.

Of course, there are days when I slip back into old roles.

Change doesn't come easily, and it often comes with pains, growing pains.

This is healthy and good.

The growing pains will end, and we will find ourselves in a new place where life can be better,

and

mentally we are healthier.

Thoughts can become inbeded in our souls.   When this happens, what we think becomes what we are.

The good news is that we can change the negative into the positive.

Not everything will go our way, but we will find ourselves shedding the bumps and bruises like a fighter who cannot be brought down without a lot of effort.

Even when we are brought down, we climb out of the ashes with new knowledge and strength.

i know who I am.  I am happy with who I am.  If I didn't try, I would have lost, but now I know more about me.  I'm willing to learn, and I'm willing to change.

You must take personal responsibility. You cannot change the circumstances, the seasons, or the wind, but you can change yourself. That is something you have charge of. Jim Rohn
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"You must take personal responsibility. You cannot change the circumstances, the seasons, or the wind, but you can change yourself. That is something you have charge of."

 Jim Rohn