As an experiment, I spent 10 minutes consciously being grateful for everything I came in contact with during that period. I thanked the refrigerator for keeping my food cold when I took an apple, and my teeth for allowing me to eat that apple. This was on a day the temperature was in the 90's, so I was totally grateful to my AC for doing its job and I appreciated the roof over my head to keep the sun at bay. I was grateful to my terrazzo floor for helping to keep the house cool. I loved my Macbook for its ability to effortlessly connect me to people I cared about. You get the picture. I found myself smiling and being happy at the end of those minutes, flooded with gratitude and happy with my life.
So, then I took 10 minutes to think about things that concerned me in a worrisome way. Business is slow all over. Will I make enough money to buy what I need? The cost of gas is on the way up again. There is a war going on. I don't know if we are having hurricanes this season. The rugs are full of sand. The weeds have taken over the garden. My parents are getting old. Big Pharm is really getting scary. OK, you get the picture on this one, too. This exercise did not leave me smiling. I felt uncomfortable in my body, restless in my mind. And I did it to myself with my thoughts.
So what goes on in my head when I am not consciously choosing my thoughts? Old unconscious programs are writing the script, creating my reality, my emotions, my life. I can inhibit that process by choosing where to put my attention. And if I redirect my attention on what is working in my life, I can feel good. "Positive emotions create bodily sensations of openness and expansiveness. They invite the world in........ Negative emotions create a tight, contracted feeling. Everything pulls inward. The world is pushed away. Positive feelings invite unity. Negative feelings invite isolation." Joan Borysenko, Minding the Body.
So what goes on in your head all day? Abraham / Hicks encourages us to "work to improve the way you feel, not the situation." I can do that if I consciously choose to redirect my thoughts when they start heading for the dark side. (I can also use energy work to re-write those old scripts; but that's another tidbit.)