Have you caught Wordle fever? This clever daily word puzzle in the New York Times became a fad very quickly. It is fun and easy and requires an open mind in order to see the possibilities for the daily word.

Keeping a flexible mind is not always easy. Author Robert Ludlum wrote, “Blessed are the flexible for they will not allow themselves to become bent out of shape!”

A single word may not make a difference in our lives, but the many words we think to ourselves and speak to others will.

Henry David Thoreau said, “As a single footstep will not make a path on the earth, so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind. To make a deep physical path, we walk again and again.”

The thoughts that we keep repeating to ourselves will create a track in our mind that becomes easier and easier on which to stay. We create experiences for ourselves by continually affirming that something is true, whether it is positive or negative. We will then begin to focus on that in the world around us.

There are so many things that can take away our joy, our celebration of life; let’s not let them create a groove in which we get stuck.

We can look for the good and praise it. We can be mindful of the words we speak and choose what we want to experience. We can be kind and compassionate, not only with others but with ourselves as well. The possibility exists that then we will be able to see new prospects.

According to an old saying, “Wherever your heart dwells, there you are.” It is equally true to say, “Wherever your thoughts dwell, there you are.”

How can we keep an open, flexible heart and mind when there is so much pain and negativity in the world? To be positive is not to ignore the truth of the parts of our life that hurt but to remind ourselves that there is much more in our experience.

Change your thinking, change your experience is a reality. We can choose the kind of thoughts that bring peace and possibility in our relationships and that keep us adaptable to the world around us. We can choose the pathway of possibility by being flexible.

The Rev. Linda McNamar is a Laguna Woods Village resident.