Practicing Positive Thinking

I recently heard someone say that worrying is like praying for what you don't want to happen. This makes a lot of sense to me.  Whether it is because you know worrying can cause stress, or because you believe that positive energy is good for the universe, or because you believe in the power of prayer, you KNOW that worrying is bad for kids.

So here is what I teach mine.  When you worry, allow the thought to happen.  Say the worry to yourself.  Then, turn the worry into a positive prayer.  (You can use a different word if you don't like the word 'prayer'.)

So, as an example from my own life, I feel some generalized worry about my daughter's upcoming school outing.  I let it rise until I can acknowledge the concrete worry/fear.  I am worried that she will get lost from the group and be scared, or worse, kidnapped.  Then, I turn that into a positive prayer.  I pray that my daughter will have a good time on the outing, that she will be safe and secure with her friends and teachers, and she will come home happy.  Then I visualize each of these positive things.  Every time the worry arises, I meet it with my positive prayer and visualization.

I don't mean to reinvent the wheel here.  This is very consistent with the Buddhist concept about negative emotions/thoughts in which you do not repress them.  Rather, you embrace the negative and meet it with its positive counterpart.  And, like a mother with a wailing child, you cradle it and let the stronger positive energy hold it lovingly.  Like the arms of the gentle mother, the negative emotion/energy becomes calmed, transformed. This practice I am describing of transforming worry and anxiety into positive prayer is an example of that.  It is a practice I am committed to, and is one I am teaching to my children.