Cultivating Positive Thinking Habits

In his book "Shortcut for a Better Life", the writer Ziad Rayess mentions: There are many types of habits that are important to people. Some benefit their health, strength, and appearance, and others benefit their future, work, and relationships with family, other people, and the community they live in. These habits are cultivated through personal behavior and internal physiological harmony with oneself. Some examples are waking up early, exercising, eating in moderation, and avoiding fast food. 

There are also habits of thought, which are cultivated through practices in which practical application is aligned with modes of thinking and values that the person believes in. Examples include altruism, sacrifice, loyalty, and honesty. These take deeper roots in one’s soul when recalling the teachings of the sacred task that one believes in.

But there is another dimension which may be the hardest but we’re in dire need of although it requires a lot of work: positive thinking. This state is achieved by reprogramming the mind with regard to its judgements and reactions to the events that you might face in daily life or things you might hear and read. A person’s success lies in their ability to manage their reactions to events. This ultimately benefits them and those around them.

Some of the most important positive habits to cultivate are:

1. Reconciliation with oneself every night with no resentment or malice in heart. Forgiveness confers immeasurable happiness and peace to the soul.
2. Avoid thinking of people who have wronged you as enemies. Instead, think of them as part of the segment of society that we must reconcile with.
3. Recall the idea of promoting goodwill among people, not enmity for the sake of enmity. Don’t give much weight to conspiracy theories, as they get in the way of positive action.
4. Weigh the likelihood of misplaced efforts spent on others’ behavior and lack of experience, as opposed to deliberate damage or assumption of fraud.
5. Thinking well of the wrong actions of others, and consider it inadvertent, foolish behavior or the result of incomplete information.
6. Look at people as humans who have positives as well as negatives. Avoid perfectionism—successful interaction with them should take that into account and eschew thoughts of people through the lens of their shortcomings or negative traits.
7. Appreciate the blessings you have without comparing them to what others have.
8. Know that today’s problem will be in the past tomorrow.
9. Use smiling as a reliable means of communication.
10. Consider positive thinking as a tool for a positive life and consider offering goodwill as the height of intelligence.
11. Judge others’ negative actions, generally, in the framework of being in need or under pressure and not the framework of desire for the action itself. For example, stop applying legal principles to theft, as in some cases, it may be due to necessity or dire need.
12. Think and carefully review every new information that comes according to your desires from others because of things that happened in the past. Then you will have new context for your reactions, and it won’t be a victory for your ego.
13. Remember that you might be taking part in something wrong, and avoid haughtiness and narcissism.
14. One must be mindful of the ability of the Creator -may He be glorified and exalted- to achieve His wishes, and submit to God with His superior wisdom and power.

Of course, these habits and behaviors do not eliminate the potential that others may have their own agendas.

May God grant us success.

Conclusion:

Developing good habits takes time, effort, and discipline, but the benefits are immeasurable. Cultivating habits of reconciliation, forgiveness, and promoting goodwill among people can bring inner peace, happiness, and success in personal and professional life. Positive thinking allows us to manage our reactions to events, leading to a more fulfilling life. As we strive to cultivate positive habits, we should remember that we cannot control the actions of others, but we can control our responses to them. Ultimately, we should yield to God's will and put our faith in His knowledge and might.