QUESTION: I saw your talk on intuition the other night. No, I am not one of those special people with the gift of sight. Like you said, even if I were, what would I do with it? There are times though, when I would like to peek into the future, mostly to figure out the direction and get rid of the fear.

There is so much talk about negative thinking. People, myself included, often say, ”Stop thinking negatively”. Well, is it possible that with negative thinking and fearful thinking, we bring those negative and feared outcomes to life? Do we or can we open the door to bad outcomes as we let those thoughts live and grow in our mind?

My mind is always abuzz with thoughts. I analyze and overthink just about everything. I am fighting it; still there are times when I am overcome with fear. If you find a minute to answer my question, I would really appreciate it. I am really interested to hear your thoughts.

ANSWER: We are all intuitive to varying degrees. If it is something that one finds interesting, it certainly is possible to strengthen that muscle further through a myriad of practices. It will not, however, alleviate the fear that we all experience at different times. I can not honestly say that a single one of my teachers or friends who are powerful intuitives have any more peace because of their ability. Peace comes through surrender, not power. If it came through power, there would not be all this striving that is predominant in our culture, be it spiritual or material. Now to your question: if it was so that we manifested everything that we thought by the mere fact, very few of us would be around. More so, we tend to manifest more of our unconscious material than the conscious, and most of us are living a solid section of our lives through that unconscious realm. This is my observation from being a clinician for two and half decades and of thousands of people. This is one reason this whole New Age-y manifestation movement does not bear fruit in real life. There are no magic bullets, as much as we desire it to be so. Not so good when we believe by thinking something we can make it happen, excellent news considering how many negative thoughts we all have. When not due to past trauma, negative thoughts are usually a form of control. Instead of living in the unknown, our mind finds it easier to think of a worst-case scenario so it can feel like it is in control. It is prepared for the worst, and hence ready.

It is not just that we have to be aware of negative thoughts; we have to be aware of ALL thoughts. Our bodies can not distinguish between thought and reality. Even if we disagree on the ability to manifest thoughts externally, our biology still responds as if thoughts are real. It is an evolutionary lag where the nervous system reacts as if thoughts are happening in real time. Then there is a cascade of chemical reactions that follow that can be detrimental to our well-being. But it is important to note that this can also happen with “positive” thoughts. Whether we are fantasizing about a perceived “good” or “bad” event, our body is reacting by activating and agitating our nervous system. Thoughts are not free in that sense, we pay for them dearly.