“Just as you are free to choose happiness over unhappiness, so in the myriad events of everyday life, you are free to choose self-fulfilling behavior over self-defeating behavior.” From The Sky’s The Limit, by Dr. Wayne Dyer:

Your expectations add up to your reality. For instance, you can eliminate 50 percent of your “sick” days by dropping these two phrases from your vocabulary: “I’m tired” and “I don’t feel well.”

First let’s talk about being tired. Tiredness is a choice you make. Did you ever notice how tired you get when you have something distasteful to do?

“Gosh, I’m tired,” you say to yourself or anyone who’ll listen.

“What do you have to do today?” someone responds.

“Oh, I’ve got to clean up the yard. Oh, gosh, I’ve got to get out the mower, and the edger – I hate that thing. I always get blisters from it. I’ve gotta get out the rake, and the roller – the fertilizer and the lime and the spreader. Look at all that stuff. Gosh, am I ever tired, I’d better go take a nap.”

“Would you rather go with me to a party down the street that those airline stewardesses are throwing?”

“Hey, sure! Just give me a second to get ready. I’ll be right out.”

“But you only had three hours sleep last night.”

“So what. I’ll sleep next week. Let’s go.”

You reinforce your tired feelings all the time. You go to bed late and say to yourself, “Boy, am I going to be tired in the morning. Even if I went to sleep right now, I’d only get four hours of sleep. Tomorrow’s going to be a bad, bad day.”

And what happens when you wake up the next day? You say, “Gosh, am I tired.”

If you want to stop feeling that way, get that phrase out of your system. Get up and say instead, “Well, I got four hours of sleep last night. I’m going to get to work today and then come home after that and enjoy myself. Every time I have a tired thought or my body reminds me that I feel a little achy, I’m not going to focus on that thought. I’m not going to tell anyone that I’m tired. I didn’t sleep last night so I’ll sleep tonight – what’s the big deal?” See how your expectations color your perceptions?

Now, think about the flu season. I always say, “I don’t want it. The flu is not for me.” But I hear other people say, “I have the beginnings of a cold. Here it comes. I’m starting to feel lousy. By tomorrow I’ll be really sick. I just know it.” The next thing you know, they’re not at work and they’re home nursing a gigantic flu attack.

I haven’t been “sick” in five years now. I’ve occasionally had a drippy nose or a little bit of a scratchy throat. I use that as a signal that I need more rest, or should watch what I eat, or drink more orange juice. But I don’t tell people that I have a cold.

We’re talking here about choice, about expectations, and about learning that attitude determines a large part of what it means to be a fully functioning person. Now, how do you feel? Great? So do I.

“Only you can improve your lot or make yourself happy. It is up to you to take control of your own mind, and then practice feeling and behaving in the ways that you choose.”

From Your Erroneous Zones by Dr. Wayne Dyer