“To dwell day by day in thoughts of peace toward every creature will bring abounding peace to their possessor.” As A Man Thinketh

This may be the hardest of all principles for me to practice on a daily basis. It seems those days that don’t get off on the right foot sometimes get worse and worse. First, there’s a technical problem with one of your websites and people can’t access it. Then your phone system is knocked out by lightning for the third time in a year. It wasn’t Mother Nature that I had the harmful thoughts toward, it was the local phone company who didn’t want to send out a technician on my schedule. And on, and on.

In the end, it was me who was harmed by the thoughts I directed at these faceless and innocent victims. Whether by the Law of Attraction or the Law of Sowing and Reaping, it is impossible to give without getting in return – when you give out thoughts of anger, frustration or ill will, they are certain to be returned to you.

I love this quote from John Kanary’s book Breaking Through Limitations:

“If I knew you and you knew me,
and each of us could clearly see,
the meaning of your heart and mine,
I’m sure that we would differ less,
we’d clasp our hands in friendliness,
if I knew you and you knew me.”

As John says, we’re a whole lot more alike than we are different. The same wants, needs, loves and hurts. Truly understanding that will help us to dwell in thoughts of peace towards others.

In Above Life’s Turmoil, one of the books of the James Allen Trilogy, Allen writes, “The man who thinks hateful thoughts brings hatred upon himself. The man who thinks loving thoughts is loved…The man who sows wrong thoughts and deeds, and prays that God will bless him, is in the position of a farmer who, having sown tares, asks God to bring forth for him a harvest of wheat. He who would be blest, let him scatter blessings. He who would be happy, let him consider the happiness of others.”

And that’s worth thinking about.

“All achievements, whether in the business, intellectual, or spiritual world, are the result of definitely directed thought.” – As A Man Thinketh

Have you ever heard the expression that most people spend more time planning their vacation than they do planning their lives? I would expand that expression by adding that most people spend more time “thinking” about their vacation than they do thinking about what’s important in their life.

While rest and relaxation are a must in living a balanced life, it’s not what we were created to do. After all, the Master Creator took his R&R on the seventh day, only after six days of “definitely directed thought.”

Wallace D. Wattles wrote “There is no labor from which most people shrink as they do from that of sustained and consecutive thought; it is the hardest work in the world.” And yet it is the first and primary labor of achievement.

Have you given some “definitely directed thought” to your life’s purpose or your personal mission statement? Is it written down? Do you review it and think about it often? Is your life organized around your purpose and a set of goals that support that purpose? Are the actions you take everyday in harmony with your purpose?

Without purpose and goals – definitely directed thought – you are like the proverbial “ship without a rudder,” wandering everywhere while going nowhere. There is power in your purpose and in your goals. It is the power that takes you over obstacles, the fuel that propels you toward the life you envision. As Bob Proctor says, “Purpose gives meaning to WHY you’re doing what you’re doing.”
And that’s worth thinking about.