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"Good
thought and actions can never produce bad results;
bad thoughts and actions can never produce good results.
This is but saying that nothing can come from corn but
corn,
nothing from nettles but nettles." -James
Allen
Almost
everyone understands the biblical concept of sowing and
reaping because we can grasp the simplicity of the
logic. If we were to plant corn in our backyard
garden we wouldn't expect spinach to come up. But
even though we can grasp the logic, we don't always act as
if we understand the power of this principle. And we
certainly don't act as if this principle will affect us.
An example: For many years my morning ritual began
with a thorough reading of the newspaper, most days
spending an hour or more before dashing off to the
office. I did not know then that our minds are most
impressionable immediately upon rising in the morning and
just before sleep in the evening.
Fresh from the reading (and thoughts) of the day's
murders, indictments, invasions by foreign dictators, and
all other manner of "news", it shouldn't have
come as a surprise to me that my sowing of these thoughts
would reap an "attitude" toward the rush hour
drivers who were "conspiring" to slow down my
arrival at work. Thus, by the time I did arrive, I
had set the tone for my day, and it was not a positive
one.
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I gave up my morning ritual ten years ago and replaced it
with a ritual of reading and meditating on some works that
will sow "good thoughts" and thus reap
"good results." I wasn't aware at the time
that this was some sound advice offered up by the Apostle
Paul, who wrote, "Fix your thoughts on what is true
and good and right. Think about things that are pure
and lovely, and dwell on the fine, good things in
others. Think about all you can praise God for and
be glad about."
We always reap what we sow and that is especially true
with our thoughts. As Emmet Fox writes, "The
secret of life then is to control your mental states, for
if you will do this the rest will follow. To accept
sickness, trouble, and failure as unavoidable, and perhaps
inevitable, is folly, because it is this very acceptance
by you that keeps these evils in existence. Man is
not limited by his environment. He creates his
environments by his beliefs and feelings. To suppose
otherwise is like thinking that the tail can wag the
dog."
And that's worth thinking about.
Reproduced
with permission from the Jim Rohn Weekly E-zine.
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