More and more personal empowerment gurus, success coaches, spiritual teachers, and even scientists are telling us that our thoughts create our reality. What we think about, we bring about. We get what we expect. Our present thoughts create our future reality. What you see is what you get. After learning this principle for myself from a number of teachers over the years, I have experimented with it in my life. I found that these people are all on to something pretty valuable that I can use for creating my life more the way I want it to be (what a concept!).

Do you remember when you were a child and no dream seemed too big? Some of us thought we would walk on the moon; some dreamed of riding with Roy Rogers; others imagined stepping to the plate in a big-league game. Every one of us, when we were young, had a common trait - we were dreamers. The world hadn't gotten to us yet to show us that we couldn't possibly achieve what our hearts longed for. And we were yet still years from realizing that in some cases we weren't built for achieving our dream (I realized about my junior year of high school that I was too short and to slow to play professional basketball. The dreamer is always the last to know).

I learned pretty quickly that fear and worry led me to think about what I didn't want in my life. And if those thoughts could become my reality, I decided that I wanted to cut way back on them! The statement, "What we resist persists," was said by someone who realized that resistance keeps your attention on what you don't want and thus keeps it in your experience.

I can still remember the feeling of the light bulb turning on as I was driving down the road listening to one of Wayne Dyer's audiotapes. He was saying that we ought to always be for things instead of against things--when we are against something (in resistance), we become disempowered, discouraged, deadened, tired, diseased. And when we are for something, we become empowered, encouraged, enlivened, energized, and at ease. Right then, I knew that I needed to become aware of what I was against in my life, and then deliberately decide what I was for in each of those situations instead.

I already knew that whatever we repeatedly think about with feeling, we are creating (attracting) in our experience of life. And now I was even more aware of how important it was for me to focus my attention on what I want in my life instead of on what I don't want.

So many of us have been conditioned to believe that how we get what we want is to fight against or resist or stamp out what we don't want. That's why we have a war against crime, a war against AIDS, a war against violence (what's wrong with this one?!), Mothers Against Drunk Driving, Just Say No to Drugs, and many other well-meaning campaigns that fight against something. Yet what is the focus on? On what is not wanted.

If what we think about, we bring about . . . if what we resist, persists . . . if our beliefs create our reality . . . then what are worry, doubt, fear, and resistance doing to us? They are thoughts and feelings about what we don't want which we are drawing to us the more we think about them.

For me, these thoughts have given me a lot of practice in learning to quickly turn my thinking around when I find myself in a negative thought-I ask myself, "What do I want instead of this? What would it be like if I didn't have this 'problem'? What am I for in this situation?" Doing this helps me to pivot, or "do a 180", so that my attention is on thoughts about what I want, thoughts that feel better. And as soon as I feel better, I am in a state more conducive to getting what I want.

And better yet, I have learned that I can use worry, doubt, and fear to my advantage-as powerful reminders to get clear on what I want. (I imagine these little imps, tapping me on the shoulder, saying, "Yoo hoo, Judee! You're thinking about what you don't want again! Watch what you ask for, you might get it!")

Oops! Here's my chance to be a conscious chooser of my thoughts again! I get to realize my absolute freedom to choose my thoughts and to pick a thought that feels better, that moves me in the direction of what I want. (OK, I admit it wasn't so easy at first, yet with persistence and practice, it becomes easier and easier.)

And I always have the opportunity to choose again . . . and again . . . and again, until I have shifted how I am feeling. Sometimes I can shift more quickly than other times, but eventually I get clear on what want to say Yes! to, instead of continuing to say No. And what do you know! I always get positive results! I may not always get the exact results I am expecting . . . more often than not, I get better results! And that has led me to tack onto the end of my affirmations: "This or something better than I can now imagine!"

What if all these campaigns to stamp this out, to abolish that, to eradicate something from the planet . . . what if they all focused on what they are for instead? A number of years ago when I was working for the Department of Education, they had bumper stickers that said "Don't Drop Out!" (like "Don't think about pink elephants!"). And Florida had one of the highest dropout rates in the country at that time! Later on they changed that bumper sticker to a positive focus: "Stay in School-Graduate!"

I encourage you to think about what you are saying No to in your life (financial lack, rebellious kids, being overweight, illness, working hard, your job, bad hair, ex-spouses, etc.), and think about what you want to say Yes to instead. Write your positive statements down: "I am for financial well-being, I am for cooperation among family members, I am for feeling good in my body...." Then focus your complete attention (thoughts and feelings) on those statements. How would you feel if those things were in your experience now? Act as if they are and get the feeling in your body!

Practice focusing on what you want and feeling as you know you would feel if you had that now (I know, I know! It can feel like a stretch at first . . . just play with it a little. You'll be glad you did when the results start showing up!). As you do this, the magic of the process becomes that you don't have to figure out how to make it happen or how to get it. This is the "let go" stage (yes, I realize that letting go can be scary for those of you into control, but work with me here, or better yet, play with it!). There is great power in "Letting go and letting God" . . . or letting go and letting the Universe, or your Inner Being, or the Force . . . whatever resonates with you. Once you set your intention, your Creative Subconscious goes into action, in concert with the Universe, to bring things, people, and resources to you out of the blue!

What helped me years ago with the "letting go" step was a statement I heard Werner Erhard make. He said, "The only way to be in control is to allow yourself to be out of control." I had to ponder that one for awhile when I first heard it. I got it later because, as I learned to let go of my need to control, I began experiencing peace of mind while getting amazingly positive results.

A wonderful teacher of mine (see www.abraham-hicks.com) helped me to realize that there really is no such thing as "exclusion" because whatever we put our attention on we are including in our life. Whatever we say No to we are keeping in our experience by virtue of our attention to it. We are actually giving energy to what we don't want. Yet we have been trained to say, "I don't want that" or "Watch out for that." You can retrain yourself to say "What I want is...."

So I am learning to Just Say Yes. Yes to friendly relationships, Yes to financial prosperity, Yes to traveling to beautiful places with fun people, Yes to a healthy body, Yes . . . Yes . . . Yes!

Everything I have shared with you here, I have tested out in my own life. If it can work for me, it surely can work for you. And even though I have worked this process over and over again, I am still in awe of some of the amazing results I get. There is something about the joy that spontaneously erupts in that "Yessss-s-s-s-s-sss!" moment of experiencing yet another serendipitous outcome.

Judee Pouncey is a freelancer who loves doing a variety of things. Right now she does freelance editing, writing, speaking at New Thought churches, house and pet sitting, and is co-publisher of Alternatives, a bi-monthly community magazine in Tallahassee, FL. She also facilitates playshops such as "The Art of Choosing Your Words", "Letting the Kid in You Come Out and Play", "Creating Your Life On Purpose", "Unleashing the Creative Spirit Within", and more. You can contact her at 850-514-4843 or at judeelight@nettally.com