Our ability to change really depends on confidence in our potential. We need to be able to envision ourselves in a new way and then get some experience of that “new self” in meditation. Then we carry that experience of change into our daily lives more and more successfully every day until it is natural and effortless. Our thoughts determine who we are from moment to moment. So, if we learn how to change our thoughts from negative to positive, from useless to useful and from agitated to peaceful, our change will be authentic and sustainable even when life gets difficult.