by Kevin Murphy

“Remember, happiness doesn’t depend on who you are or what you have, it depends solely on what you think.”

Although the Buddha is often credited with that quote, its origin doesn’t really matter. Few people would dispute its message. So if most people would agree that our thoughts determine how we feel, then why are we not very good at monitoring our thoughts? The analogy of The Three Rooms can help. 

From The Three Rooms perspective, our thoughts can only be in one of three places: they can be in the past (the Past Room); the future, (the Future Room); or the present (the Present Room); and whichever room our thoughts are in determines our experience of life in that moment.

Since our thoughts can move back-and-forth in the linear concept of time, it is imperative that we observe our thoughts. It is that act of observation that separates our awareness from our thoughts so we are no longer at the effect of them. This awareness, or consciousness, is what all the spiritual masters have urged us to connect with. 

In order to access this Divine Consciousness, we need to know where our thoughts are. That’s why the fundamental question that we need to ask ourselves is “Where am I?” In other words, “Where are my thoughts?” If you can ask and answer that simple question, then you have already separated your awareness from your thoughts. Unlike the physical body, our thoughts can be in one of three places, and each place leads to a different experience of life.

The Past Room:
When our thoughts are in the Past Room, we continuously think of events that have caused us to feel negative emotions based on what we perceive others to have said or done to us…or us to them. We tend to dwell on those thoughts which further perpetuates the negative emotions they generate. Resentment, guilt, anger and shame are a few of the emotions we feel when our thoughts are in the Past Room. 

The Future Room:
This is when we think about all the things that can go wrong and we focus on the worst-case scenarios. We look around at what is, and we project the image of what we don’t have into the future. The feeling of stress and anxiety that this creates is what actually pushes away the very things we desire. 

When our thoughts are stuck in the Past or Future Room, we are constantly seeing the world as separate from us, so we feel the separation from our own Higher Self. That is the singular cause of the negative emotions we feel in the Past and Future Rooms. 

The Present Room:
Instead of looking at what is, this is when we focus on what can be. There is an absence of negative thought, so there is nothing preventing us from feeling our connection to our Source. The love that we feel when we are in communion with our Higher Self is the feeling that allows us to attract into our lives that which we desire. 

If we are going to observe which room our thoughts are in, we need to better understand the thoughts that we are observing:

A thought is a vibration that is stored as energy in a Field of Potential Probabilities, waiting to manifest.

This field of energy has had many names. Sometimes it is called Divine consciousness, prana, or the Akashic field. Other times it is called the quantum vacuum, ether, or the zero-point field. No matter what name you apply to it, it is the Source energy that makes up all there is.

All of the inspired ideas we receive, as well as the negative thoughts we produce, are stored in the same Field of Potential Probabilities. It is up to us to determine which ones we access based on the vibrations we are producing in any moment.

When our emotions resonate with the same vibrational frequency as our Higher Self, we are able to interpret those vibrations in the form of inspired ideas. This is what happens when our thoughts are in the Present Room.

When our emotions are not in alignment with our Higher Self, we are interpreting vibrations based on what we see and hear in the form of resistant thoughts. This is what happens when our thoughts are in the Past and Future Room.

In the movie The Greatest Showman, P.T. Barnum, played by Hugh Jackman, makes a birthday present for his daughter. He tells her, “This is a wishing machine. You tell it your wishes and it keeps them safe until they come true. Even if you forget them, they are always there.”

Wouldn’t that be amazing if there was a real wishing machine? Well, there is. It is the same Field of Potential Probabilities (FoPP). Your wishes are just thoughts from your imagination. They are stored in the FoPP until your vibrational frequency lines up with them, even if you forget them. If you feel negative emotions about something you are wishing for, the manifestation of that wish will sit patiently in the FoPP waiting for you to align with the feeling of the wish being fulfilled.

Since your wish is just a thought, it will manifest if you will align with it. The only way to be in alignment with your wish is to feel as if it has already come true. The feeling is everything. When your thoughts are stuck in the Past or Future Room, you cannot align vibrationally with your wish because your thoughts are in a room that doesn’t bring you joy. There is always a gap between when we make a wish and when it manifests. You must enjoy the gap, otherwise the manifestation won’t come.

The doubt caused by our own negative emotions is the very substance that prevents our wishes from being fulfilled. The irony is that if you don’t feel the joy as if your desire is already fulfilled, then it can’t come to pass. But if you feel the joy of it manifesting before you can see it, then you will feel the joy again once it does manifest. That is what is meant by “twice-felt.” In the Past and Future Rooms, you don’t feel the joy and your wish never comes true. In the Present Room, you get to feel it twice and it does come true. It’s your choice.

Kevin Murphy is a former Wall Street managing director, high school and collegiate wrestling champion, community activist, speaker, coach, and author. His book The Three Rooms, invites you to start the process of better monitoring your thoughts–while providing you the keys to transform your life by doing so. Since our thoughts affect our health, our wealth and our relationships, observing which room your thoughts are in can change your experience of life. For more info, visit: www.thethreerooms.com