A Thought on the Power of the Positive

Parkhurst Forest in Spring 2014

On my long walks with my dog in Parkhurst Forest, I think about all sorts of things, from worries, to ideas for beads, but sometimes merely little contented musings. They're not life changing or the slightest bit important, just pleasant escapisms. So, as I haven't anything dynamic on the jewellery front this week, I thought I would share one.

 I have a good habit of bolting the gate after me. However, occasionally I need to leave it unbolted for somebody returning a little later. But time after time I automatically bolt it. The other day as I approached the gate I said to myself repeatedly 'Don't shut the gate! Don't shut the gate!.' I even continued to say it as I passed through the gate. Although I was saying the words, my mind was already thinking of something else. Some time later when I heard Mark returning from a walk with Toby through the front door, I knew I had bolted the gate. Drat! Anyway, I remembered a theory about the brain ignoring weak words like 'don't' and 'no' and its focus on definite words. The next time I changed the words I used. Instead I said 'Gate open, gate open.' It worked! and it's worked every time since.

This perhaps is a simple example of the power of the positive, but it did make me think. So I now tell myself 'Don't forget not to use the word don't!!!!!!'