That is really the problem for when you give yourself those negative thoughts, then you are bound to feel depressed so you have to learn how to turn those sentences around, turn them around completely: “OK, so I made a mistake, but I won’t again” Or, “OK, so my wife died and I miss her but I can start over with a new life.” Whatever it is that you say to yourself about those past things makes you depressed because you have not learned to turn them around and when you are depressed, when you are in this frame of mind, you are dead! That is death! Remember Lot’s wife was told, “Don’t look back for you will turn into a pillar of salt!” But, she just had to look back. Now, you must not look back. You are through looking back. You can only live the very moment you are living, and you can live that to the fullest, and enjoy it by the proper thinking. Hasn’t there ever been a desire, an urge, to accomplish something you never attained? Think about that. Take each day as it comes, and enjoy the sunshine, the song of the birds, the laughter of the children. See all those positive things.

Let each day crowd out yesterday’s sorrows completely. Remember that “he that climbs the ladder must begin at the first rung” – Robert Scott said that. The Chinese say, “A thousand miles journey begins with one step.” As we seek higher and wider vision, each new day becomes the next rung upwards, a new opportunity to rise above yesterday’s sorrows, frustrations, depressions and failures, to a world made new, so that the Oriental poet urges us: “Look well, therefore, to this day.” Look well, to this day.

Now, in your mind’s eye, I want you to visualize a sign, a sign, hanging right in front of you, and that sign has three words on it, and the words are: That was yesterday. That was yesterday, when things didn’t go right. That was yesterday, when you failed to turn your negative thoughts around. That was yesterday when you gave up hope. That was yesterday, when you didn’t decide to start over, like you should have, and that was yesterday, when you were only thinking of yourself, instead of the happiness of others, and what you could do for them. That was yesterday, when you made a mistake. That was yesterday, when you know you said the wrong thing. That was yesterday, when you know you did the wrong thing. That was yesterday. That was yesterday, when you hated yourself, but every day is a fresh beginning, and every morning is a world made new, and the past is not wholly wasted. It is not in vain, rising on its wrecks at last, there is something nobler you will attain. By replacing negative thoughts with positive thoughts, every new moment is a new opportunity, and as you accept this truth, you feel the warmth of truth and love and hope course through your heart, you relax completely, confident that there IS a plan for you, and that, even though you can’t understand, you must go through these learning experiences that you are going through, in order to satisfy that plan. You are, nevertheless, perfectly willing to go through whatever experiences you need to go through, so that you can allow yourself to be the master of your own fate, to be in control of your own feelings, for this dawn of a new day only comes after the night. You cannot have a mountain without valleys, otherwise, everything is all a plateau.

The brightness of the sun would mean nothing, except by comparison to the darkness of the night. It’s only by contrast that we can understand life, and so, instead of reacting adversely to the problems and frustrations of yesterday, you hang on them that sign. That sign that says, That was yesterday – you see the sign in your mind’s eye. You lift those problems from your shoulders and hang them upon that sign and leave them there, because, as a result of the faithful practice of your self-hypnosis, and the learning to control your thinking in a positive way, every day, as a fresh beginning, and every morning is the world made new, and this is a new day for you, and a new morning – a day without depression, a day without frustration, a day without failure, a day in which you are more effective in every single area of your life, than you have ever been before, and why? Because you have let go of your problems. You have stopped letting them handle you. You are handling it, by turning those negative thoughts around, because it is not the events of your life that are affecting you. It is your reaction to them, and you are through letting negative thoughts create negative reactions to the experiences of your life, which depress you and run you ragged, run your every moment, every moment of your life. You are going to learn to relax comfortably, in the knowledge that you can and will do your part and will continue to do your part.