We are each the creators of our own lives, and we must each of us be, the leaders, the builders, of our destinies. Self leadership needs to be designed, planned, developed, reviewed and changed through conscious attention, proactive choice making and pragmatics.

There is always choice, maybe not the choice we want, but through staying open to possibility, mindful awareness and self respect, hidden choices become more apparent, more available.

Becoming aware of our choice-making and doing the work it takes to tackle former choices no longer wanted, helps align us with the natural forces of energy and flow. From there energy flows for attracting what you desire. Manifestation enthusiasts have told us for ages this is the way to harness life's potentials and move into the life we want. Mental health enthusiasts tell us positive thinking is the way to harness this same energy.

Whichever way you choose to look at it, the choices we make become the creators of new choices, ongoing possibilities in this direction or that direction, with this flavour or that other texture. These choices become the creator of subsequent life chocies, influencing day by day how our life unfolds, what new possibilities can come to us, what new flavours, textures, experiences, people and potentials we're exposed to.

A common illusion is that of having no choice. If you're stuck in the Illusion-Of-No-Choice it can help to remember that physical reality is often prohibitive, but, like most things, is impermanent. Force, oppression and disempowerment can stop us, yes, but we can also remember that true power never resides on the physical plane, that true power is always the domain of mind and spirit. The power of the mind is unleashed through perspective. The power of the spirit is unleashed through acceptance.

By shifting old beliefs, new perspectives can come. Each thought represents a perspective. Change the thought, change the perspective and see with refreshed eyes, a refreshed heartspace could follow. Our thoughts are our own to create or destroy, occurring in the privacy of our own heads, and moving in directions of our own choosing and rechoosing. Wisdom Traditions across the ages and all around the globe teach that our thoughts create our world. It's considered that world-creation and individual-creation are inter-related, inseparable from the other. Perspective taking is closely aligned with this, holds hands with compassion and enables acceptance. Isn't that worth the work of taking control of which thoughts we allow to cross our minds and which thoughts we allow to influence our emotions, our actions?

Our choices are borne of our thoughts just as our thoughts are borne of our choices and so our lives unfold as a result of our thinking, the thoughts we lean into, the choices we act on, all lead to the next thought, the next choice, the next action. This is personal evolution of our own making.

Through small and big actions, small and big decisions, and through subtle nuances that influence that thinking in ourselves and in those around us, our individual realities are created. We live into this deliberately or even unconsciously and so the Ancient Wisdom Tradtitions taught that thoughts must be guided, guarded. They taught that thinking is the greatest of all undertakings, and that we must be wary of poor thinking habits, and certainly we must be wary of acting on poor thoughts.

There's a certain discomfort that comes with harnessing our thinking, taking control of which thoughts are allowed to continue and which are not, but there's also a sense of self assurance we create by noticing and choosing which thoughts can stay and which must be vanquished altogether. Besides, discomfort is impermanent and alongside the benefits of taking control come secondary benefits of opening the mind to new possibilities.

I think it's useful to ;onder on these ideas:

- Who are you being lately, and do you want to keep being that person? What choices or thoughts led you to becoming who you are and are you choosing to keep those?

- Where are your actions taking you, and is that where you want your life to lead you?

- What small change can you make to reduce the power or intensity of any unwanted thoughts you currently have?

So how do you change your thoughts? How do you take a thought and vanquish it effectively?

A simple self therapy we can all use when our thoughts start getting unmanageable is 'Self CBT'