I remember being in high school and attending my first outdoor concert at the then named Angel Stadium in Southern California. The famous baseball stadium hosted top music performers and opened up the outfield to public access. I sat in the cheap seats behind 3rd base and watched everything on the huge screens that were set up on the side of the stage.
I'll never forget the sight of people being thrown into the air by a circle of people holding a blanket. The one being tossed would fly 15-20 feet over the heads of the group and they would catch them on the way down with the blanket. Many people were dropped or slammed hard onto the ground and were rushed off via ambulance to nearby hospitals. I thought how insane they must be to trust people who were obviously intoxicated and they didn't even know. I think of that scenario and wonder how many times we place ourselves into situations where we trust someone we know and they still let us down. Most of the clients I treat have "trust issues" meaning they have been let down repeatedly by others and they just can't "get over" it.
Years ago I heard about "The Law of Attraction." It referred to the human mind's ability to look for things (both positive and negative) subconsciously and we make them manifest in out life. An example of this might be you purchasing a red car. You think you are the only person with this make, model, and color car. Then you drive it off the lot and EVERYWHERE you see your car. This happens with our emotions and our thoughts as well. If you are not controlling your thoughts, your thoughts will default to your primary emotional focus (negative or positive). Fortunately, you can change the way you think and feel by intentionally focusing your thoughts. When you focus on negatives- you will find negatives. When you look for the positives- you'll find the positives.
Author and speaker Brene' Brown says, "Stop walking through the world looking for confirmation that you don't belong, you will always find it." This searching for evidence to confirm our suspicions or expectations is called, "Confirmation Bias." We are constantly looking for evidence to support our paradigms, beliefs, and expectations. Another way to think of this is the saying, "If you think you can, you can. If you think you can't, you can't." I heard another similar saying, "What ever you believe, you can achieve." So today, change your focus and put your trust in God.
"When I am afraid, I put my trust in you."
Psalm 56:3 New International Version (NIV)