As children, we called it “make believe.” People encouraged us to be imaginative and creative, to fantasize and enjoy. Then, as we aged, the guidance changed. Grow up! Be realistic! “Making believe” became the more serious game of “making beliefs”: judging, drawing conclusions, deciding what’s good and bad, right and wrong. All our emotions and behaviors then follow from the beliefs we create.

Parents, priests, teachers, corporate executives and politicians compete busily to teach us or sell us beliefs so that they can influence our feelings and behavior. They know, and we soon learn, that winning the games of power, both personal and political, depends on what we choose to believe.

Often, we become attached to something or someone because deep down we fear we wouldn’t be complete without them. We fear letting go into the presence of the unknown, and feel that we would be left bereft, lost, alone without that outer possession, person, lifestyle. Indeed, some of us have become so identified with these things that we experience them as our actual identity … I’m Mr. or Mrs. so-and-so … I’m a teacher, engineer, business person … I live in … My children are … My lifestyle is … I, I, I, … My, my, my, …

Sometimes this identity can become so real for us that without it we fear there would be nothing or no one there. We fear non-existence.

I’ve often spoken about three goals I believe pretty much all people have: to be happy, to be peaceful inside, and to be successful in the world. If I were to pick one term to encapsulate what I mean by all three of these, it would be that all humans wish to thrive. This series of articles, in large part, is about how to thrive. But instead of looking at the fine details, as we have when looking at your Internal Map of Reality, we’re going to look more at general principles. If you follow these principles, you’ll have the ingredients that will allow you to thrive in this life.

What if you are creating your life story with the very thought you are thinking right now? Many people have changed their lives-turning financial ruin into abundant prosperity, transforming troubling relationships into loving bonds, and even healing what experts called untreatable diseases.

These people aren’t scholars, scientists, prophets, or millionaires. They’re just like you and me-everyday people who face heavy challenges throughout their lives-whether it’s our jobs, our families, or our inner selves. How did they do it? They discovered the wisdom of self-help pioneer Louise Hay and learned how to use the power of a single thought.