More On Revision

I’ve been practicing Revision and noticed that a simple way to revise our negative stories is to change the negative words to positive words. “She doesn’t like me,” simply changes to “She likes me.” “I’m the world’s worst mom,” changes to “I’m the world’s best mom.” “I’m never going to be able to do this,” becomes, “I’m going to do this.”

At first this may seem like some kind of reality distortion. But remember, we create our own reality. It isn’t distortion. It is reality formation. You are forming your reality. What has happened in the past does not predict the future. Instead you format your own future by what you think.

Sure you might have had a bad mothering moment. But that moment is gone now and a clean slate of time is spread before you. Do you want to enter the next moment dragging along an “I’m a bad mother!” attitude? Or do you want to shape the next moment with an “I’m a great mother who just made a mistake that I’ve now learned from and am ready to move on” attitude?

What we think, determines what we do. And any negative story we have can be Revised.Just quickly change your thought from, "I hate cleaning out the toilet!" to "I love cleaning out the toilet!" and watch what it does for your day. As Elder Wirthlin said, “Come what may, and love it!”

Revising

Sometimes our negative stories cling to us like a static silk scarf. Usually the reason they cling is because we are going about ridding ourselves of them in the wrong way. The only way to make darkness go away is to replace it with light. It does no good to say, “Go away dark” or “It shouldn’t be so dark.” Instead you simply shine in the light and suddenly there is no darkness.

The statement that there is opposition in all things means that for every bad something there is a good something. Look for the good! Dwell on it! Enjoy! Rewrite a new positive story. Don=t cut corners here. Fill the mind with the positive story so the negative doesn’t have room to grow. Retell your old negative story by concentrating on the positives in the story. (There will always be some!) Attribute positive motives to the other person. See the situation in a new light.

Almost any author will tell you that the secret to good writing is in the revision process. Perhaps the secret of good living is also in the revision. The milk spills and the negative thoughts start to form, but you can rewrite the thoughts. “Those kids make my life so miserable” can with a little effort be revised to, “These kids certainly keep my life interesting! Never a dull moment at my house!” and “They don’t even care how much work they make for me” can be changed to, “I wonder how many times my mother did this for me? Bless her heart! I need to thank her.” “Don’t they understand we can’t afford to waste milk like this?” can become, “As long as I’ve paid for this milk, I might as well enjoy it! I’m going to have a little fun cleaning this up.”

Some people dismiss this as being Pollyannaish and unrealistic. You can call it whatever you want, but if the milk is already on the floor, why add to the pain by thinking negative thoughts? Give me one good reason! Why wallow in the negative thinking? Why stress yourself or give yourself ulcers? Just revise the story and enjoy. The truth is the milk is spilled. The meaning or feeling we attach to that truth can fill us with unnecessary pain or free us from pain. It is a choice.


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