Transforming My Life Through Positive Thinking

During these dark days, I kept hearing about “The Secret.” At first, I dismissed it, but curiosity got the better of me. I purchased the audio version and listened to it on repeat. The more I listened, the more I wondered if there could be something to this.

I had always been driven by hard work and logic, yet everything I tried recently seemed to backfire, pulling me down three times faster than if I had done nothing. The idea that I needed to change my mindset and embrace positive thinking was intriguing and terrifying. Could it be that simple?

Growing up in a deeply negative and abusive household, I had always struggled with self-worth and a sense of helplessness. The idea of brainwashing myself to think positively seemed absurd at first. But after years of counseling for severe depression, I was willing to try anything.

I asked my counselor what he thought about positive thinking and whether we could change our thoughts. His response surprised me: “What you think determines how you feel, which influences your actions, that creates results, and reinforces your beliefs.” It was a simple yet profound concept that shifted my perspective.

After that session, I found myself driving past my old home and business, the physical manifestations of everything I had lost. I realized that my thoughts had always been centered around what to do when things went wrong. I rarely considered what to do when things went right. This realization hit me hard—I had been conditioned to think about failure, not success. It became clear that if I wanted to reclaim my life, I needed to focus on what I wanted to achieve, not what I feared.

The journey wasn’t easy. Positive thinking didn’t come naturally to me, especially in a world that often thrives on negativity. News, politics, and even casual conversations seemed designed to drag me down. But I knew I had to break free from this cycle. I started by changing the way I spoke and thought. Instead of saying, “I don’t want to be late,” I would say, “I will be on time.” Instead of “I’m not going to get upset,” I would say, “I will stay calm.” These small shifts greatly impacted how I felt and approached challenges.

Over time, positive thinking became more than just a coping mechanism; it became a way of life. It helped me rebuild my confidence, my relationships, and my sense of purpose. It was like losing weight—each small change added up, and before I knew it, I had transformed not just my thoughts but my entire reality.

Of course, not everyone supported my journey. Some people dismissed my new mindset as a fad or even a cult-like obsession. But I knew better. Positive thinking gave me the tools to rebuild my life on my terms. As Dr. Michael B. Beckwith says in “The Secret,” “There is a power inside of you that is greater than the world; it will feed you, clothe you, guide you, protect you, direct you, and sustain your very existence if you let it.” I chose to let it.

The one thing I was certain of was my desperate need to stop the endless negative recordings that played in my head constantly. These thoughts had plagued me for as long as I could remember, replaying the same destructive messages over and over. Some days, I felt so trapped by them that I thought the only escape would be to cut off my head, though I never actually wanted to die. I never thought to bring them up to my counselor because I believed they were an intrinsic part of me.

It wasn’t until I began exploring positive thinking that I realized these thoughts were separate from who I was. If there was even the slightest chance that this approach could stop those negative recordings, why wouldn’t I try? I decided to do it.