POSITIVE SELF-TALK
 

EVERY DESTINATION STARTS AS A THOUGHT

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Every destination starts as a thought.  That’s why my thoughts are so important; they determine where I go in life.  My dreams don’t happen by themselves; I must think and act them into existence.

First, I must think new thoughts.  My old way of thinking will never result in a new life.  If I continue to think the same old thoughts, I will get the same old life.  I must think new thoughts if I want to have a new life.

Second, I must develop new beliefs.  Many thoughts pass through my mind, but never take up permanent residence.  They pay a short visit and disappear.  When I repeat a thought enough times, it becomes engrained in my mind.  Engrained thoughts are called beliefs.  I must repeat new thoughts long enough until they become new beliefs that guide my life.

Third, I must take new actions based on my new thoughts and beliefs.  I must think and act my new life into existence.  Only new thoughts, new beliefs, and new actions result in a new life.
 

It's almost scary when you realize that every destination starts with a thought.

Every positive dream that I have ever had started out with a single thought.  When I saw the National Geographic article that featured the voyage of Robin Lee Graham sailing around the world on Dove, an idea was planted in my mind, and it determined the course of my life.  I knew that someday I would sail around the world on my own yacht.

Every thought that I think is a seed that grows into my life as long as I water and nurture it after it springs to life.  I can go anywhere I want as long as I am willing to think the thoughts that take me there.

We ended up cruising among the islands of Thailand because we thought those islands into our life.  When we were in Australia, we had to decide whether we would sail to Christmas Island and across the Indian Ocean, or if we would sail through Indonesia, Borneo, Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand before we crossed the Indian Ocean.  That single decision to sail north changed our destiny.

Because our thoughts took us north, we visited exotic Bali and remote Borneo.  We communed with the Orangutans of Kalimantan and dodged fishing nets at night in the Java Sea.  We experienced the thunderstorms of the Singapore monsoon while five of our fellow cruisers had their yachts struck by lightning in the same area within a period of one week.  We visited stilt villages over the water along the Malaysian coast.  We snorkeled in caves at the base of limestone cliffs.  We even survived a global tsunami in Thailand without a scratch.

All of those things happened because of the thought:: "Lets head north and visit Thailand."

You have to be careful about the thoughts you think, because they determine the outcome of your life.  Your thoughts determine whether you live your nightmares or your dreams.

Right now, I'm thinking new thoughts about the adventures that I want to have during the remainder of my life.  I'm working on a bunch of new dreams, and my dilemma is that I have too many dreams and not enough time.

Since every destination starts with a thought, it's time to select some new thoughts and build my life around them.  How does a driving trip around the world in a Land Rover Defender sound?  A sailing voyage across the Pacific to Australia sounds pretty good as well.

What kind of thoughts are you thinking, and where are those thoughts taking you?

The catamaran in this picture is cruising the islands of Thailand.  We snapped this photo just before we got into our dingy and headed off to snorkel in a cave at the base of the limestone cliffs.  We ended up at this destination because our first mate said this sounded like an interesting destination.  Thanks for thinking that thought.  The underwater cave was an awesome adventure.