“To get up each morning with the resolve to be happy . . . is to set our own conditions to the events of each day. To do this is to condition circumstances instead of being conditioned by them.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Imagine that within you was a genie, a veritable creation machine capable of bringing you anything you desired – good and bad. Let’s imagine that you were unaware of this genie within or had heard about it but disbelieved. Perhaps you’d tried to believe and discovered that it was bogus – the whole thing about the genie within was just so much superstitious mumbo jumbo.

Bestselling author Dr. Bernie Siegel is a well-known proponent of alternative approaches to healing not just for the body, but the mind and soul as well. In 365 Prescriptions for the Soul: Daily Words for Healing Body, Mind, and Spirit he prescribes daily doses of inspiration, hope and love designed to help us navigate whatever challenges life throws our way.  Here’s a sampling of the guidance and wisdom he lovingly offers:

Prescription #12:  Black Holes of Renewal
When we need to find our energy and source, the place to look is in the darkness. It is in the black holes that the energy of creation lives. Whether we are speaking of the universe or of an individual, darkness is the source of life.

This book is about you. Mastering the art of aloneness is about having a good relationship with yourself. It’s about becoming the person you were meant to be, treating yourself well, and shedding the old beliefs and behaviors that limit your ability to live a healthy, happy, satisfying life – with or without a partner.

When we are born, we are whole, integrated human beings filled with tremendous potential. We feel good about ourselves and are able to experience and express the full range of human emotions. As we grow up, we adapt to the peculiarities – and even pathologies – of our own families by adopting patterns of thought and behavior, some of which erode our innate wholeness.

Resilient models of thinking may not have prevented today’s economic disasters, but I can’t help but wonder if the Big Three automakers would  be solvent today if they had implemented  new models of thinking.

- Do you know how you think?
- Do you know what you do when you have to think something through?

Try this exercise:
Take a few minutes  to write what you are thinking. When you are done, take a look at what you have written. Keep the following questions in mind:

- Is your thinking organized? Methodical?
- Do you use a charting or mapping process to keep track of the flow of your ideas?
- How do you know where one stage or type of thinking ends and another one begins?