As the media continually broadcasts stories about people who have lost their homes due to mortgages they can no longer afford to the rise in unemployment to the downfall of another industry, it’s been a personal challenge for me not let these doom and gloom messages get under my skin.  And I’m a pretty optimistic person.   This is why I don’t turn on the news and often times I read only the comics.  There are times, however, when I cannot turn the television off, like when I’m at the gym and the ticker tape is habitually running across CNN sensationalizing every piece of negative news.  This really can ruffle my feathers.  But the truth is that the media is merely mirroring my own concerns and fears.   It’s like an open invitation to a Home Town Buffet for my Inner Lizard.   For those of you who don’t know what an Inner Lizard is, it’s a term coined by Martha Beck and it refers to the reptilian part of our brain whose job is to broadcast lack and attack fears.  I’ll never have enough money, love, or friends or if I’m not vigilant, something bad is going to happen.  But Martha says that our lizard fears always create what it fears the most.  It’s very similar to the Law of Attraction.  For example, if you think that money is scare and you’ll never have enough, that is exactly what will show up, or in this case, not show up.  Why?  Because, most likely, this thought causes you to feel scared, hopeless and probably desperate.  You spend your time worrying and maybe you act in desperate ways.  The result of all that worrying and needy, graspy behavior is wasted time or perhaps a prospective employer or client who doesn’t hire you because you walked in with your proverbial “bag lady shopping cart”.  So, you see my point.   Our thoughts really do create our results.  The truth is that no amount of worrying or staying afraid will keep you safe.  Although counterintuitive, it’s quite the opposite.  Worry and fear are way more likely to cause the very thing you fear the most – your security. 

So what to do?  Go shopping.  Now don’t go running off to Nordstrom’s just yet.  What I mean is I want you to go on a shopping trip inside your mind.   The idea is to find a new thought that feels better to you.  Searching for one is similar to shopping for a new pair of shoes.  Find several pairs that appeal to you, then try them all on.  As you try each one on, notice how they feel.  Are they comfortable?  Do they feel good on your feet? Walk around in them.  Are they spacious enough for your toes to wiggle around in?  Can you imagine wearing them?    Apply the same questions to Thought Shopping.  Find a few thoughts; write them down and then find one that feels comfortable and good to you, one you can easily believe.  Wear the new thought and notice how freeing it feels instead of confining and painful.  It might take some getting used to but I promise you’ll get so addicted to feeling good that it will be impossible for you to wear anything that uncomfortable again!

  Here are the results of my shopping spree:

I can relax

I’m in the process of creating abundance

Good things are right around the corner

All things ultimately work out for my benefit

Maybe there’s something better in store for me

I’m exactly where I should be

I’m a survivor

I always have enough

I get to remember and live by what’s really important

We actually live very well

This is good because it allowed me to find my true career