I just realized this while journaling yesterday, after many clues here. Isn't it funny how you can hear or read something many times, but it's quite another thing to truly feel or know it?

Anyway, for a concrete example here is one of mine. I'm totally new to this so we'll see how it shakes out over time:

Instead of, "I need to stop seeking the approval of others," I realized these 'other people' were actually characters in my mind from high school that I legit haven't talked with in over 10 years, and that the irl real people certainly did not care to judge me. So I've turned that negative into, "I approve of myself." Which will be a long task but now I know what needs to be done, instead of focusing on resisting the negative.

I imagine that's a common one for those below a certain age. I hear a lot about how people give less and less f*s as they age so at least a good number of us go through this specific growing process. I'm certain I've successfully done this before in a different manner when I was younger, but it seems like there are still deeper and deeper layers to shed.

Brap always says that, "What you resist persists," so if you're thinking about what you don't want to happen or what you want to stop, instead turn it around into what you do want.

Maybe take, "the world is a nitty gritty place" and turn that into, "I find beauty in the small things." Sure you're not there yet, but now you know where you might want to go. And if you remind yourself of your new mantra every morning before your drive to work, maybe you really will find a beautiful flower, tree, or eagle on your journey to work tomorrow.

Did I get that right u/osofeo?