Psychologists have also learned that we can feel any way we want to feel at any time by placing an appropriate thought in our mind. Should a negative thought intrude on our inner video screen, we can easily slide it off. And we can then replace it with a positive visualization, such as a tropical beach scene, before the negative thought has had time to trigger a headache-producing emotion.
In contrast, once a negative emotion has pervaded our consciousness, the strong feelings and upset that it causes can rule us for hours, preventing rational thought and causing us to lash out at people with whom we have close relationships. The result is that we often end up with a tension or migraine headache. Thinking a thought, incidentally, is the same as creating a mental image, or making a mental picture, or visualizing something. Each of us has complete personal control over our thoughts. For example, close your eyes and visualize a red rose; then picture a snow-capped mountain peak; then a dog.
Were you able to see these objects in your mind’s eye? Great! Then this proves that you have the ability to replace thoughts about a rose with alternative thoughts about mountains or dogs. And so it is with negative thoughts that provoke headaches. We can easily slide any negative thought out of our mind and replace it with a more positive thought.
While thoughts can be changed in a split second, it is much more difficult to change a negative feeling.
Think a thought or make a mental picture or visualize an image of a friend or neighbor who has a more exciting spouse, a larger house, a more prestigious job, and a more luxurious car than you do, and you’ve set yourself up for strong feelings of envy and possibly resentment. Within a few minutes, these negative feelings will start low-level stress mechanisms simmering and you will begin to feel tense, uncomfortable and upset.
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