Careful what you think about!

'What you concentrate upon you bring into your life. Many people fail to concentrate successfully because they think that concentration means will power. They suppose that the harder they press the faster they get through. But that is quite wrong.

Think of the photographic process. The secret of a clear picture lies in focus. You focus your camera lens steadily for the necessary length of time. Suppose I want to photograph a vase of flowers. I place them in front of the camera and keep them there. But suppose that after a few moments I snatch away the vase and hold a book in front of the camera, and then snatch that away, and hold up a chair, and then put the flowers back for a few moments. You know what will happen to my photograph. It will be a crazy blur. Is not that what people do to their minds when they cannot keep their thoughts concentrated for any length of time? They think health for a few minutes and then they think sickness or fear. They think prosperity and then they think depression. Is it any wonder that man is so apt to demonstrate the "marred image"?

It is always good to make a practical experiment, so I advise you to take a single problem in your life—and just change your mind concerning your problem and keep it changed for a month, and you will be astonished at the results. If you really do keep your thought changed you will not have to wait a month for results.

he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved (Matthew 24:13)' (Emmet Fox, Around The Year With Emmet Fox, 28 July)

I've acquired the habit of becoming extremely vigilant about resentful thoughts and fear thoughts.

If I can catch the thinking within about ten seconds, usually no harm is done.

Even recreational negativity (e.g. about society, politics, etc.), which can be the subject matter of social discourse and a source of bonding between people of the world, is just as destructive.

It is the equivalent of shooting holes in the bottom of the boat.

One hole is sufficient for water to start to flow in. The fact that the rest of the bottom of the boat is intact is irrelevant, as there are no compartments.

My mind is similar: I cannot keep negativity in one area and expect it not to slosh and sluice into all the others.

Resentful (grievance, attack) thoughts tend to be loud and unpleasant, and are relatively easy to spot; fear thoughts: less so, because they can manifest as 'ordinary planning', working through scenarios, unnecessarily pre-playing courses of action, etc.

When I catch myself, I not need to mentally re-construe the situation so it's more 'spiritual' in my perception. No, I run for the hills: that means I simply start focusing on Divine Love and Power working through me, and continue until I lose myself in that.

An alternative tool is to take a spiritual book and read it _until I feel better_. If I don't feel OK, there is something wrong with my mentality. It needs to be replaced. Sometimes, it takes a few minutes; sometimes I'm there all day, reading (or listening to the book if it's an audiobook) and holding the line against the negativity. Eventually there is a shift, the ego caves, and I'm back to normal.

I say 'normal': For years, I did not know that peace and joy were my normal state, so I did not know they were returnable-to.

Grievance, negativity, and fear are the enemy here. They're the stranger. They are what do not belong. They are the cuckoo in the nest; the fly in the ointment; the skeleton in the cupboard; the monster under the bed.