You Are What You Think About!

This article was written by guest contributor Carolyn D. Townes.

"If we are not responsible for the thoughts that pass our doors, we are at least responsible for those we admit and entertain." ~ Charles B. Newcomb

Experts say that we operate on about 90 percent of the negative thoughts we learned as children. What this says is that there are a lot of negative people and negative energy circling our immediate environment.

It is this negative energy that then gets spread to all the other parts of our lives. So, if we have a negative workmate. We then absorb her negative energy and pass this on to our family life. This then gets passed on to our leisure time. And the cycle continues until every part of our reality and our connecting realities are infused with this negative energy.

So how do we break the cycle? Think about what you think about!

Instead of entertaining every toxic thought that comes into your head, make the conscious choice to flip the script.

We have been given a powerful tool that may elude many of us. It is the power of choice. We have the awesome power to choose – to choose to entertain negative thoughts; to choose to not drink the poison; to choose to not give our quality time to toxic people. Here are three powerful tips to change your thinking and to avoid those toxic people:

1. When a negative thought does enter your mind (and they will!), choose to change it. Just say CANCEL! Then just for the moment think about something funny.
2. When you cannot remove all of the toxic people from your life – some may be family or workmates, then find some nutritious people to balance the scale. Find a life coach or a support group, or both. Spend less time with the toxic people until you have enough resolve to deflect their negativity.
3. Develop and attitude of gratitude. When you are grateful, there is no room for negativity. When those pesky negative thoughts start to creep in, think of five things you are grateful for at that moment. Remember, you always have something to be thankful for. You don't think so? You're breathing, aren't you?

So just for today, learn to think about what you are thinking about. You have the power to choose more "nutritious" and empowering thoughts – thoughts that will lead you to creating a life of inner peace, passion and purpose!

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Carolyn D. Townes is a Spiritual Life and Leadership Coach, Passion and Purpose Coach, speaker and author. For the last fifteen years, she has been telling her story to impact and empower women worldwide. She is the creator and animator of Spirit Women Coaching and Consulting which is dedicated to equipping and empowering female leaders, entrepreneurs and women in transition in creating a life of passion and peace. She writes for the blogs Becoming a Woman of Purpose (http://spiritwomen.blogspot.com/) and Equip and Empower (http://equipandempower.blogspot.com/). Carolyn lives in New York City and can be reached at carolynsfo@spirit-women.org.