Jim Donovan, the Ageless Boomer

“If we did all the things we are capable of doing,
we would literally astonish ourselves.”
Thomas A. Edison

There’s a saying in the computer industry GI–GO — “garbage in, garbage
out.” It means that you get out exactly what you put in. This principle
applies to our mind as well. Norman Vincent Peale, perhaps the most
well known proponent of positive thinking, has said that if you remove
all the negative thoughts from your mind, you must put something back
in their place. We simply cannot live in a mental vacuum. If we do not
replace the negative thoughts with something positive, they will
eventually return and we will slip back into our old negative thinking
patterns.

As James Allen said in his book, As A Man Thinketh, “A [person’s] man’s
mind may be likened to a garden, which may be intelligently cultivated
or allowed to run wild; but whether cultivated or neglected, it must
and will, bring forth.” If we want our lives to remain positively
directed, we must continually plant positive thoughts, affirmations and
sayings on a regular basis. Perhaps this is why I am constantly reading
motivational material, listening to tapes in my car, using affirmations
and trying to associate with positive people in general.

I have found that the quality of my life improves in direct proportion
to the amount of time I spend listening to or reading positive,
uplifting material. Maybe one of the reasons I write is that I need to
continually reaffirm these principles for myself. There is an old
proverb that says, “We teach best what we most need to learn”. If that
is the case with my writing, so be it. My desired outcome is that we
all benefit and grow from sharing these ideas.

As Wayne Dyer so beautifully puts it, “Everybody on the planet who is
on the side of helping to improve the quality of life for all people is
on my team.” We are, in fact, a team. We need to surround ourselves
with people who are equally committed to personal growth. It is
important to develop a network or support group of like–minded people.

With all the negativity around, it is extremely important for those of
us who are trying to focus on the good and promote positive ideas, to
share our experience and thoughts. This is truly a “win – win”
situation.

(Excerpt from, “Handbook to a Happier Life.” To order, click here:/a>)