"Hello, How Are You?" This is a Trick Question

Yes, this is truly a trick question, and one that we have noticed people get wrong when they first start out trying to think positively. Us included.

The law of attraction says that we attract to us whatever we say. So, if our answer to the simple question, “Hi, How are you?” is something like “okay,” – that means you will be just okay.

Maybe you want to feel great. Why not? Wouldn’t everyone like to feel great? If we want to attract feeling great, our answer to this question, whether we actually feel it or not at the moment, should be “I feel just great!”

Study after study tells us that when we say something we make it happen. If we talk about how bad it is, we just get more negative things, says Jack Canfield, author of Chicken Soup for the Soul.

Whatever we concentrate on is what fills up our lives. By being critical and picky we set ourselves up for being unhappy. Negative thoughts make us negative people.

Rhonda Byrne, author of the blockbuster book and video, The Secret, tells us that a negative thought is the beginning of stress, and stress causes illness. Changing to positive thoughts of love and gratitude removes stress and brings good health.

A sweet active lady in her 90’s, Ann Rivers, living in a retirement home, tells her fellow residents how to talk to their grown kids. She says most conversations of her friends go this way.

“Hi, Mom, how are you?” And Mom follows with a complete medical report, including the number of trips to the bathroom during the night.

“Save the medical report for the doctor,” Anne says. “Your kids will call you more often. Say something positive.”

“When someone asks me how I am I say, ‘marvelous’ or ‘fantastic’ or ‘never been better.’ This day is a new adventure and I am the chief explorer in charge. This day is mine to shape and enjoy any way I want.” Anne’s kids call her every day.

Anne knows that “Hello, how are you?” is a significant question. Nor is it a trick. Anne knows, along with the sages, that our thoughts and words actually create our lives.

We can consciously create our daily lives by staying aware of our thoughts and words and choosing them with an eye to how we want to feel.

Here are some choices for answers to the “how are you” question. These words will change your emotions and experiences from negative to positive.

Marvelous
Great
Better than ever
Fantastic
Awesome
Amazing
Wonderful
Getting better all the time
Incredible
Never been so good

In contrast, these are some of the words and phrases that you don’t want to use any more. If you recognize them as being familiar, just be happy you are eliminating them from your conversation.
Fair to middlin’
I’ll be fine
Compared to what?
Ask me later
Could be better
Lousy
Miserable
Wish I’d never been born
It’s too early
Don’t ask
I’ll be better when …

The little known dynamic of life is that we are the creators of our own lives. All of the great thinkers and inventors of life have understood this. Now the word is out to all of us. We create our own lives, and our own happiness. We do it through our thoughts and our words. It starts with a simple,

“Hello, how are you?” What’s your answer now?

Let your thoughts and words soar out ahead of you. Pick yourself up out of that funk and start a new life today. Tell yourself that you are in charge now and things are GREAT.