In the last week I came across an author that I had not heard about before … James Allen. I also enjoyed two different conversations about the recent attention that The Secret has been getting. What was interesting to me was that both of the conversations about The Secret were with people who simply did not want to consider the power of their own thoughts in defining their destiny.
At one time in my life, I too would have been a skeptic, but almost a decade ago I became open to varied explanations of “how the world is.” I no longer hold onto my traditional science and logic as I once used to … and it has served me well. The deeper I had been digging into quantum sciences, and reading the thoughts of leaders such as Schrödinger, Einstein and Wittgenstein, I quickly began to question “reality” and the various models of the universe that I was taught from childhood. I believe that as science continues to explore the depths of the universe, we’ll all become a little uncomfortable as some of our core beliefs continue to be rocked.
James Allen is a refreshing read … so little is know about him and his history. But his writings communicate the same basic understanding of the world that is repeated by some many people, and so many books … an understanding that is still rejected by so many … but that can make life so simple and easy:
The aphorism, “As a man thinketh in his heart so is he,” not only embraces the whole of a man’s being, but is so comprehensive as to reach out to every condition and circumstance of his life. A man is literally what he thinks, his character being the complete sum of all his thoughts.
You are what you think! Your thoughts cause your world. Your actions and behavior are driven by your thoughts. What you think and speak … is what has got you where you are.
Man is made or unmade by himself; in the armory of thought he forges the weapons by which he destroys himself. He also fashions the tools with which he builds for himself heavenly mansions of joy and strength and peace. By the right choice and true application of thought, man ascends to the Divine Perfection; by the abuse and wrong application of thought, he descends below the level of the beast. Between these two extremes are all the grades of character, and man is their maker and master.
The keys in this quote are that it is all your choice … in every moment of every day. Your choices of what thoughts to acknowledge and act on are what define your destiny. And the true application of thought … That is authentic application … with complete integrity … that allows those thoughts to cause and create.
I encourage anyone interested to read the works of James Allen … I was truly impressed, and glad to see yet another author who learned and saw the power that we all have to define how our life is going to go.
P.S. If you doubt that it is that easy … you are also right. Your own thoughts of doubt will drown out any thoughts of possibility … and your own ability to be open to consider that the world might actually work this way. It’s all your choice! 🙂