By Alyson Porter

Circumstances and things are constantly flowing in and out of our lives—guided by our thoughts.

When I was in college, I came home for the summer to help get things ready for my upcoming wedding. My parents were hosting the reception in their backyard, and while most of the basement was still completely unfinished, we needed at least one functional bathroom—with actual walls and a door. Lol! So even though everything else down there was wide open and under construction, we decided to finish the bathroom and make it look nice.

We spent a solid week working on it—installing the sink, putting in the toilet, getting everything in place. And then came the painting. We had to do multiple coats, and since we all worked during the day, that meant a lot of late-night painting sessions.

One night, we were almost finished. I kept passing the can of paint back and forth and couldn’t stop worrying about spilling it. The thought just kept playing over and over in my head—me dropping the paint, splashing it everywhere.

And sure enough… about five minutes later, what happened?

I dropped the paint can.

Paint splattered all over the walls we had just painted, all over me, the cabinet, the sink… and even my mom.

Horrified, I gasped before the paint even hit the floor and yelled,

“I just knew that was going to happen!”

In that moment, I realized I had let my thoughts dictate my future. I had visualized that exact scene over and over in my mind, and then it showed up in real life. That paint disaster came straight from my own imagination.

Thankfully, we were able to wipe everything down before it dried and fix the wall—but it cost us another hour of work. I’ve thought about that night so many times since, wondering… If I hadn’t kept picturing that moment—would it have even happened?

Whatever you think about, you bring about.

So now, whether I’m driving, helping my kids with homework, or tackling a big project at work, I do my best to picture things going well. Not perfectly—but positively. It helps me worry less because I’ve learned I actually have control over what plays on the screen of my mind.

And that changes everything.

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