A few months ago, an email came in promoting Matthew McConaughey’s book “Greenlights”. And well, because it’s, you know, Matthew McConaughey, I was interested in the concept! But I digress.
I read the excerpt and contemplated my own greenlights. I thought about the times in my life when literally everything flowed OR when they went down the crapper. So, for my next Sunday talk at the Center of Universal Light, I began gathering more ideas on the colors of my thoughts and how they affected my feelings, emotions, my moods and then to see how those, for the most part, directed my behaviors . . . for better or worse.
Now traffic lights don’t normally inspire us, but when I contemplated how our thoughts behave just like traffic lights, I did a little closer look into how my own mind, my own thoughts can quickly change from one color to the next!
Driving through Sedona recently, I hit every green light along my route. It was one of those times when you just feel like you’re in the flow.
If you saw the movie “Corinna, Corinna” with Whoopi Goldberg and Ray Liotta? Corinna (Whoopi) is hired by Manny (Ray Liotta) to be a housekeeper and Nanny to his 7-year-old Molly who is now non-verbal from grief over her mother’s recent death. In her efforts to get Molly to open up and talk, Corinna took Molly and drove the family car to run errands. Because Corinna knew the timing of the lights, every time they approached an intersection, she told Molly to blow at the traffic lights so they would turn green. Molly thought this was magic and that she was magical which gave her the confidence to speak again!
And life CAN be magic if we approach every intersection in our lives, not as something to dread or fear, but to see it as an adventure, an opportunity for creating something new, perhaps even taking a 90-degree turn!
Back in Sedona, I arrived at my friend’s house . . . several minutes early I might add. And before I got out of my car, I imagined our thoughts blinking green, yellow, and red just like traffic lights.
I read a very insightful blog along these lines and adopted the basic ideas, and adapting them to my personal experience and perspective. (If and when I relocate the original blog, I will link it here.)
On their own, these colors don’t have a lot of power, yet, they have the ability to open up the road before us or stop us in our tracks.
A really simple way to make your journey on the road of life is to notice the color of your thoughts. Now that might sound odd but stick with me because it’s a brilliant way to change your thoughts, to put you in any state of mind you choose.
We all have what’s called “internal dialogue” and it frames much of what we believe about ourselves and the world because it usually runs on a loop. So, imagine that the constant inner dialogue you have running through your head was suddenly given a color.
You may or may not know this, but our THOUGHTS are the only thing we actually have control of in our lives! Granted you can’t control every single thought that flits in, but you can control what thoughts live rent-free in your mind.
And these thoughts can either smooth out the curves ahead of you or get in your way to sabotage you.
So what I want you to do for the next couple of days is begin to observe your own thoughts and just notice their color and whether you’re moving full steam ahead or if you’re “stuck”. Do you feel good? You’re green! Feel like crap and mad at the world? You’re red.
So, here’s what I mean.
Exactly What Are Green Thoughts?
GREEN THOUGHTS are positive, empowering thoughts that say “You Go Girl!” They inspire us, move us forward, get us to take risks, try new things, and move us out of our comfort zones. They give us a positive spin on ourselves and our circumstances, our lives, and our world.
When your thoughts are green you’re comfortable with yourself and the world around you . . .and when you’re comfortable in that way, you’re not thinking “I don’t think they like me”, “I’m so stupid”, “What happens if it doesn’t work out”, “I’m too old to try that” . . . blah, blah, blah. . . instead your heart opens, your mind frees up, your awareness expands into that unlimited field of potential . . . . and you can see sooo . . . . many . . . .more . . . possibilities and options!
And so those of you who can see auras and energy fields know that green is the color of our heart chakra, and you’ve probably noticed many “Green Thinkers” are heart-based, coming from a frame of reference of Love instead of Fear in all areas of their lives.
The highest achievers are “Green Thinkers”. They react creatively within the moment in any situation, AND they make better quality decisions! When they do this, they have the potential to turn that obstacle into an asset!
Are You Red in the Head?
RED THOUGHTS are the chatter in our minds of stories we tell ourselves about ourselves and our world. These red Thoughts, these limiting beliefs, can and will stop us in our tracks with anger, fear, doubt, impatience, frustration, . . . wanting to move, but being frozen in our tracks, darting back and forth looking for an escape but not finding one because you’re in survival mode.
In survival mode, fear dominates and creativity shrivels . . . you’re on auto-pilot.
Someone in Red Thinking can look at a clear road ahead and then fill it up with blocks and barriers . . .
. . . But, but, but, I don’t have the experience, I’m not smart enough, the “I can’t”, I’ll look stupid, what if she dumps me?
Truth is . . . we all spend some time with Red Thoughts. I think Abraham-Hicks would call it “contrast”, and in that respect they can be very useful. We can discover our self-limiting beliefs and obstacles in our way in order to know what we need to change.
But too many people live in Red Thoughts most of the time which keep them from reaching their own potential and blocks their happiness.
When you find yourself immersed in Red Thoughts, ask yourself. . . do I feel creative? Happy? Energetic? Yeah . . . No. You can’t do both at the same time.
In fact, next time you have the thought, “I can’t or I’m not enough”, ask yourself, “says who?” Is that your thought or is that someone else’s from your past (yes, even your parents).
Red is the color of our base or root chakra and is predominantly related to fear . . . and then our survival instincts overtake our thoughts, disallowing room for creative problem solving.
Yellow is Mellow
NOW WE COME TO YELLOW THOUGHTS. As humans, we don’t stay in yellow thoughts very long because for the most part, our thoughts are Green or Red. But yellow is a very beneficial and healing place to be.
Yellow Thoughts are non-judging, centering thoughts. They allow us to just be, to sit, to meditate, and to be completely free of any story–green or red. They are the place to re-energize, to re-center, or to transition from red to green.
These are known as “observer” thoughts – this is where we can begin to observe the chatter and dialogue that is always running in our head, allowing us to look from a higher perspective.
This is an important place to work towards, because the more time you spend time here, the more you will find yourself better equipped to notice when you are in Red Thinking and to make better choices of Green Thinking.
The color yellow is associated with the center chakra, located in your solar plexus, or gut and is often a place to connect with your authentic self, your personal power center.
Let’s return to the traffic signal analogy. Let’s say for a minute you get to be in charge of the metering system that sets the lights!
How to Choose and Change Your Own Thoughts
- Make it a point to notice the color of your thoughts. Begin assigning green, yellow or red to your thoughts. For some people it’s easier to see the colors than to see and analyze what the actual thought it.
- Allow yourself to be aware which colors you’re creating. Purposefully practice thinking green thoughts. The best way to start? GRATITUDE. I’ve talked about this before. If you have to, begin with things we take for granted. “I’m thankful to have two legs, I’m thankful to have car that runs, I’m thankful for my pet, etc.” Start somewhere, anywhere and move into higher levels of gratitude. “I’m so blessed to have wonderful friends, to have a community that loves me, to have a partner to share my life with, and then . . .
- Practice changing the color – if something or someone has tripped you up for a long time, and you feel a VERY heavy negative charge, you might not be able to move from red to green. This is a perfect thought to practice with. Change from red to yellow, then yellow to green.
Here’s how to easily get from red to yellow.
Dissociate from the red thought by floating outside of your body. Anyone who has practiced astral projection or has imagined themselves on a beach, on a cruise, in the mountains or driving the car of their dreams while sitting in their home in Cottonwood, AZ can do it. Why do we dissociate? To get your emotions out of the way. Remember our thoughts generate our emotions and our emotions generate our behaviors, so by getting our emotions out of the mix, we can simply observe our thoughts and behavior from that higher perspective which makes it much easier to change from red to yellow and then . . . to green. If you’re feeling sad, angry, afraid, focus on the color yellow. You’ll be able to become an observer rather than a victim of your thoughts. - Lastly, begin noticing the color green everywhere you go. Every time you see something green, you’ll remember this suggestion to think a green thought.
Make it fun, make it a game and notice how quickly you can turn disappointments, fear, failure, anger, sadness into something more useful like hope, happiness curiosity, creativity, maybe ALL of that . . . and allow all the possibilities the Universe has to offer . . . help you create YOUR most colorful life.
Reinvent Your Self | Reinvent Your Life 