As A Man Thinketh

Jason just introduced me to great book entitled As A Man Thinketh by James Allen. I spent the morning reading half of it. It talks about the power of our own thoughts on our actions and ultimately, our lives. There were several quotes that I just loved! I thought I would throw a couple of them up on this blog, mostly to help me remember them.

Suffering is always the effect of wrong thought in some direction. It is an indication that the individual is out of harmony with himself, with the Law of his being. The sole and supreme use of suffering is to purify, to burn out all that is useless and impure. Suffering ceases for him who is pure. There could be no object in burning gold after the dross had been removed, and a perfectly pure and enlightened being could not suffer.

What an incredible truth. It makes so much sense, but yet I had never thought of it quite like that. As I look back and recall times when I have suffered, it was all a result of my own thoughts. And eventually what ended my suffering was when I reached a change of thought and saw my circumstances differently; realizing that I may not have the power to change an event, but I had the power to change the way I looked on that event. The most recent example in my life was hearing the news that our daughter would need surgery immediately after her birth and would require a lengthy hospital stay to recover. If that wasn't hard enough, the doctor then told us she had Down syndrome. Jason and I both suffered for several days as we tried to bring our own thoughts and desires in line with what was happening. As soon as we corrected our prideful thoughts we ceased suffering.

I'll end with one more line: "Circumstance does not make the man; it reveals him to himself."