As I recently took the decision NOT to search for a job and took the challenge to start something on my own and succeed, I faced a lot of ups and downs: financially and emotionally.
One thing I had to do: revert back to myself, and find happiness and contentment within, before starting to blame the outer world.
A very dear friend of mine, my spiritual guru, recommended the book I'm going to share now:
AS A MAN THINKETH (by James Allen).
She told me that if you want to succeed, you must THINK success.
And in fact, here's what I read:
"A man is literally what he thinks, his character being the complete sum of all his thoughts."
Mind is the Master power that moulds and makes,
And Man has the "tool of thought". He thinks in secret and it comes to pass. It happens.
The book stimulated me to discover that I myself am the maker of myself:
It's a matter of application, self-analysis, and experience.
"A man is the maker of his character if he will watch, control and alter his thoughts tracing their effects upon himself, others, his life and circumstances."
By linking cause & effect and by utilising every life experience, I can start understanding myself. Then, I will have KNOWLEDGE, WISDOM and POWER.
Allen gave a very beautiful example of the mind:
He said a mind is like a garden. You may cultivate it or allow it to go wild. Wether you cultivate it or neglect it, it will bring forth.
If you put useless seeds into it, it will continue to produce their kind.
If you grow flowers and fruits, you will weed out all the wrong, useless & impure thoughts.
"By pursuing this process, a man sooner or later discovers that he is the master-gardener of his soul, the director of his life".
Every thought-seed blossoms later into an act and bares its own fruitage of opportunity and circumstance.
"Good thoughts bare good fruit, bad thoughts bare bad fruits"
I have also learned that I do not attract what I WANT but what I AM: At every step, something is standing in the way of my fancies & ambitions but my deeper thoughts are fed with their own food.
So I can't improve my circumstances without improving myself.
What's the link between thought and character?
They are one: a character manifests through the outer conditions of a person's life which are directly related to his inner thoughts and to his development.
By following the inmost desires & aspirations, a man arrives at his fulfilment in the outer conditions of his life.
"Men imagine that thought can be kept secret, but it cannot; it rapidly crystallises into habit, and habit solidifies into circumstance."
For instance, thoughts of fear, doubt and indecision crystallise into weak, unmanly and irresolute habits, which solidify into circumstances of failure, poverty and excessive dependence.
On the other hand, thoughts of courage, self-reliance and decision crystallise into manly habits, which solidify into circumstances of success, prosperity and freedom.
I could stop reading that book right there. That was exactly the boost I needed!
I understood how I cannot directly choose my circumstances, but I can choose my thoughts and so, indirectly shape my circumstances.
But I was intrigued by another chapter title:
"EFFECT OF THOUGHT ON HEALTH & THE BODY"
For instance, I can't get myself to lose weight. Is it in my hand to change behaviour?
Allen says: "change of diet will not help a man who will not change his thoughts. When a man makes his thoughts pure, he no longer desires impure foods".
I was definitely positively stimulated, but as I was thinking to myself that I definitely need more help channeling my thoughts into the right places, the next chapter taught me how to link thought and purpose:
The key is to make this purpose the supreme duty and devote myself to attain it without allowing thoughts to wander away into temporary longings & imaginings. This is how I'm supposed to reach self-control and true concentration of thought.
"To put away aimlessness and weakness, and to begin to think with purpose, is to enter the rank of those strong ones who only recognise failure as one of the pathways to attainment; who make all conditions serve them, and who will think strongly, attempt fearlessly, and accomplish masterfully."
After the effort of thoughts comes the achievement.
By the aid of self-control, resolution, purity and well-directed thought we can ascend.
By the aid of corruption and confusion we descend.
One last though the book left me with:
"THE DREAMERS ARE THE SAVIOURS OF THE WORLD"
They have cherished beautiful visions and ideals in their heart.
The world is beautiful because they have lived. Without them, humanity would perish.
And you, dear reader, cherish the beauty that forms in your mind, for delightful conditions will grow out of it.
To desire is to obtain. To aspire is to achieve.
"As you dream, so shall you become".
Peace!
