The Power of Positive Thinking
5 Ways to Live an Enlightened Life in 2021
“What you seek is seeking you”
A powerful quote from my favorite poet Rumi has resonated true all these years. While daily affirmation rituals and manifesting your destiny may seem like a new-age wave of thinking, this school of thought has been around for many millennia.
As we drive off into a New Year, the first year in a new decade, we look back at 2020 in the rearview mirror and reflect. Reflect on a year unlike any other before it. Reflect on who we wanted to be 11 months ago and resolve again to either try and be that person or to renew ourselves entirely.
If it were any other year, I would have chosen the former. I would have tried again to be the Urvashi I resolved to be the year before.
But not this year.
This year I am choosing to look forward, not back. I’m choosing to take the many unexpected lessons the universe has handed me and make them my own. 2020 has brought to light the many tactics we use to keep ourselves at a careful distance from our own truths.
Self-inflated calendars filled with superficial social obligations are now a thing of the past — Why would we feel the need to keep ourselves so busy if we’re at peace with sitting still with our own thoughts?
Seeking short term gratification as antidotes to your anxieties are now a thing of the past — Why would we feel the need to stay distracted if the validation that we seek is actually within ourselves?
This next year will be like no other. As we slowly start to emerge from our cages, mental and/or physical, it will be easy to relapse into our old selves in the desperate sprint, backward to normal. We owe it to ourselves to make a conscious effort to dismantle these comfort-seeking frameworks in our heads and build new ones. That starts with harnessing the power of positive thinking.
These are 5 ways I plan on doing just that.
1. Embrace the Law of Attraction
The Law of Attraction states that positive or negative thoughts have the ability to bring positive or negative experiences into a person’s life. Echoing Rumi’s famous quote above, the Law of Attraction is the foundational belief that any person has the ability to manifest their own destiny. How does this translate to your day to day? Pay attention to things that attract you — if you come out of the quarantine and find yourself still wanting to bake that banana bread, there might just be something more there! Follow those persistent threads of passion and don’t just chalk it up to a “hobby” you picked up when there was nothing else to do — you picked it up for reason. You could have done anything else, but instead you chose to do this, and that’s pretty special.
2. Action your affirmations
Standing in front of a mirror and saying “I am worthy of love” is a beautiful thing. Stepping away from the mirror and picking up the phone to call your toxic ex… not such a beautiful thing. Affirmations only work if you take an action to directly further the statement you speak into existence every day. Manifestation derives its power from the person, not the mantra.
3. Understand that self-love is a journey, not a destination
We are all works in progress. Evolving human beings whose present experiences shape future iterations of our previous selves. Each day is a different journey to better understand and appreciate all the unique things that make you who you are. Figure out where you are on that journey. We have had the unique opportunity to reevaluate what we truly want. I started off this year with a high level of certainty and self-assurance regarding who I was and the things that were important to me. I sit here today with a completely new sense of self, starting back on the path to self-love, and that’s okay. Checking in with yourself and being honest about what you need enables you to find freedom in evolving, in failing, and in ultimately discovering who you want to be, even if you have to start over a few times.
4. Outsource your “gut”
Oftentimes when faced with a difficult decision or at a crossroads, the most common piece of advice is to “follow your gut”, or in other words, to trust your intuition. But what happens when you’re not sure you can trust the little voice inside your head? As we learn during our journey to self-love, doubt sometimes creeps in and makes us question ourselves. In times like these, it’s helpful to turn to a loved one who you trust and has known you in different parts of your life.
More often than not, your loved ones are your gut.
They keep your best interests in mind and keep you grounded. Especially at a time like this, lean into your close network and know that they are always available to help even when your brain-gut connection is a little weak.
5. Remember that hindsight is not 2020!
Okay — this may be a play on words here but we all remember last New Years Eve, most of us were celebrating the new year to come by giddily making jokes about the “punny” year ahead while wearing our 2020 glasses. As the year progressed, we realized pessimism came easier than optimism, worry came easier than hope, anxiety easier than faith. Turns out, our “2020 vision” would be very different than what we had thought.
That doesn’t mean our 2021 vision has to be. Don’t carry the mental scars of this past year into the new year.
So this New Year's Eve, put on your glasses and look through the optimism lens into the wondrous things that lie ahead! Your future self will thank you.
What tools do you use to stay positive? Would love to hear from you in the comments below!
