Article 161 - Creating the Change Within

Coming in terms with our own mind

Why we continue trying to change someone else as a person by changing their environment, when we know that process of change rests fully in someone’s own mind? We think that by changing person’s surroundings we can somehow change who they are, how they act or see the world. However, environment around us is only one component of how we see the world and how we feel. If our mind convinces us that world is dark and gloomy place full of mean and self-centered and greedy people, then no matter which environment we find ourselves in, even if it’s the most beautiful, safe, and welcoming, all we would see is what’s our mind is telling us to see – dark, gloomy world with greedy and mean people.

So, change and how we view the world around us begins in our mind. If we see beauty and positive energy in everything and everyone around us, we would find happiness and peace. If we choose to be happy and positive, we will be happy and positive no matter the environment or circumstances that we find ourselves in. Some people who may not have much, still glow with happiness and positive energy, because, they had made a decision to feel that way. They choose to make the best out of what they do have and where they are. And others, may have everything that they want in life, and yet they feel miserable and only see negative in everything they see around then or all material possessions that they have. Why? Because, they made a decision to feel that way. Therefore, even if more great things will come into their life, their perspective will remain unchanged. Therefore, our environment and our surroundings can only be as good or as beautiful as we make them to be in our own mind. We choose to see beauty, opportunity, and happiness, or destruction, lack of opportunity, and sadness. So, before changing the environment, we must come in terms with our own mind, conduct self-analysis, and understand our life’s outlook to see if, perhaps, change is needed there first.

Remember to surround yourself with people who motivate, encourage, inspire, and support you. When we are surrounded by people who inspire us, we want to try harder, work harder, achieve more. These individuals support us when we require support and lift us up when we require motivation and guidance. We are inspired by achievement and success of those whom we look up to and respect. We feel that our thoughts, ideas, and dreams are being heard, which inspires action and desire to keep moving forward towards accomplishment of our goals and plans we have in life. On the other side of the coin, if/when we surround ourselves with people who bring us down, continuously complain and give away negative energy, and only see bad things in the world around them, we would eventually feel exactly the same, even if initially our outlook on the world around us was positive. So, we should remember this when we choose with whom we plan to interact on the regular basis. Based on my personal experience, I found that it’s better to have one to two true friends who see you for who you are, believe in you, and motivate you to achieve great things with each interaction, vs. having ten or more people in your so called ‘circle of friends’ who are only there because it’s popular or expected by others, creating a false illusion of friendship. I’ve been in such situations more than once and felt the pressure and negativity on my shoulders while interacting with individuals who never viewed me as a valued member of a larger group. I had also felt a relief of a weight dropping off my shoulders when I had made a decision to break away from such groups, realizing how one’s mindset and decisions that we make can change and have a long lasting effect on what we do and become later in life.

So, if we want to change how we feel about the world that we live in, or our outlook on circumstances that we find ourselves in from time to time, we must first change our mindset and ensure that our thoughts and perspectives are aligned with how we truly want to feel and see the world around us, and make sure that our mindset is focused on our own goals and dreams before we change the environment around us. Before we can create positive change on the outside, we must first create necessary changes on the inside.​

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I hope you enjoyed reading this article as much as I enjoyed writing it, and hope that you found it to be very useful for you or someone else that you may know. Please feel free to share this post if you know someone who may benefit from reading it same way you did