The Power of Positive Thoughts

This is my first post, other than the introduction, in my series reviewing and discussing the book Power Thoughts by Joyce Meyers. 

The power of positive thoughts really is the main point of this entire book.  The power that positive thoughts releases in your life is truly incredible and can be seen even in small portions.  Even practicing a few of the concepts presented throughout this book has resulted in an amazing turnaround not only in my own attitude, but indeed in how circumstances occur around me.  Positive thoughts breeds positive results.

Joyce gives us five rules to make an attitude adjustment that allows us to think positive thoughts and in fact make it habit forming.

1. Maintain the right attitude when the going gets rough.  This is very difficult for me and I imagine it so with others as well.  You have to make a conscious effort to maintain positive attitudes throughout your trials and tribulations.  The trick I found is to begin positive at the onset.  As soon as a negative pops into your head, stop them.  Stop them right in their tracks.  Determine right from the start that you will not agree with the negative thoughts and that you will not listen to them anymore.  Stand strong with your positive thoughts in all circumstances.  It’s not difficult to recognize that negative thoughts have entered your mind, but it is difficult to keep them from taking over your thought process.
2. Realize the rough times won’t last forever.  Again this is a difficult one to work through.  When you are in your deepest, darkest seasons in life, it’s tough to remember that all seasons pass.  Winter becomes spring, spring becomes summer.  God uses trials to produce good results in our lives.  He always wants to bless us.  Remember as you go through your tough times that this probably isn’t your first challenge in life.  You survived the last one, probably learned some valuable lessons and you will survive this one too.
3. Don’t make major decisions during a storm.  This can be tough to do because often the storms in life bring life changing decisions that need to be made.  But try to stay as still as possible.  Our thoughts often run wild in the midst of chaos, but we need to be still and know that He is God.  We need to trust God that He will do what we cannot.
4. Stay in touch with the “control tower”.  The analogy that Joyce uses here is the air traffic control tower.  The air traffic controllers are the only people who can see the whole picture of what is going on in the sky and who have the knowledge to tell planes where to go and how to fly.  They see the storms and can tell you how to fly around them or take alternate routes.  Just as airplane pilots maintain contact with the air traffic controllers, we must stay in touch with God.  He sees the big picture and can help direct our lives around and through the storms of life.
5. Try to keep things in perspective.  We tend to look at our situation as the worse possible situation we could be in.  We tend to view minor crisis as major events (and in fact often do the opposite as well).  It helps to keep a proper perspective.  Try to make a habit of looking at the whole of life instead of centering on the one problem we are dwelling on at the moment.  Try to remember all the good that has come in your life and thinking about the good that will come.  Doing this makes problems seem so much smaller.

A positive attitude enables you to make the best of every situation and keeps circumstances from having power of your life.