There is a thought behind every emotion

You cannot have an emotion without a thought. And that is a fact. When you tell yourself that you have no control over your emotions, you are not only lying to yourself, but you are also giving away your power and responsibility for your own life.

Every time you feel an unwanted emotion, you should try to recognize the thought you just had before you felt it. Ask yourself the question: Why do I feel this way, what thought caused me to feel this way? Once you focus on the thought and debunk it, you can decide whether you want to think that again. Yes, you do! Unfortunately, most of the time we live on autopilot, and we allow our mind to think thoughts and tell stories that have nothing to do with the present moment.

But we are more than our mind and we can stop it from being "on air" all the time by choosing the thoughts we want to think and then creating the feelings and experiences we want to have.

When I started to become aware of my thoughts, I was confronted with something that goes much deeper and I had to take a hard look at my beliefs system. The most intense emotions for me are the ones that come up when I must do something that I don't want to do but I can't stop doing it either. Fortunately, one day I was brave enough to ask myself: why? Why do I have to do something I don't want to do? My honest answers were shocking, and I have to say I felt stupid:

"Because this is normal", Because everyone has to do it." "Because my mother told me so." "Because I'm afraid of what will happen if I don't." "Because I have to be perfect." "Because I don't think I deserve more..." I could go on forever.

These responses showed me that I was really stuck in my beliefs and that they were influencing my thoughts, allowing room for negative emotions.

I had to do something about that!

Luckily, I discovered one of my favorite books from Joe Dispenza: “Breaking the habit of being yourself” and started to use his meditations to make a change. And this was just the beginning.

Today, I love myself way more than bevor and even if I am still fighting with some of those thoughts every now and then, I can use what I've learned throughout the years about how to think the thoughts that bring me pleasurable emotions and a happier life.