We gain personal perception in many ways. When we were children, who we were and what we would grow up feeling and thinking was for the most part determined by outside forces. We had guiding voices that gave us constant feedback, not always the kind that helped us grow into healthy adults. Our personal image was determined by what others told us we were in many cases giving us “baggage” to carry for the rest of our lives. The power of words is like planting seeds that will grow into either weeds or a beautiful garden.
Some of us had supportive and powerful influences while others were riddle with abusive words that told us what we would never be or what we could never become. Is there any hope for those of us caught in a paradigm of negative thinking? The answer comes in the last lines of the poem “Invictus” by Ernest Henley:
“It matters not how straight the gate,
How charged with punishment the scrolls,
I am the master of my fate,
I am the captain of my soul.”
You are only a victim of the past if you choose to be a victim. You are in control if you are determined to live a positive and fulfilling existence. Just as words helped shape us, words can help us live a productive and successful life. There is a simple formula that applies to all things; what you put into something is what you get out of that same endeavor. If you spend hours tilling the soil, planting seeds, watering, and pulling weeds, you will have a beautiful and productive garden. If you work out daily, eat the right foods, and drink water you will become extremely fit. Think of the words you process in your mind as planting and tending that garden or maintaining a good fitness routine.
If your thoughts are negative, or worse, destructive you are also planting seeds that sprout into lack of confidence, negative actions, and even self destruction. “I’m not good enough,” “why is everyone else better than me?,” “Why can’t I do anything right?” are all examples of destructive thought patterns. James Allen an 1800s author wrote the motivational book, “As a Man Thinketh.” He says,
“Man is made or unmade by himself. In the armory of thought he fashions the weapons with which he destroys himself. He also fashions the tools with which he builds for himself heavenly mansions of joy, strength, and peace.”
The message is simple, controlling your thoughts and words are the first steps to controlling your life. It is the simple process of “sowing and reaping.”
“Sow a thought,
Reap an idea.
Sow an idea,
Reap an action.
Sow an action,
Reap a result.
Sow a Result,
Reap your destiny.”
James Allen also went on to write:
“Of all the beautiful truths pertaining to the soul, none is more fruitful of divine promise and confidence than this, that man is the master of fate, the molder of character, the maker and shaper of condition, environment, and destiny.”
There is no time like this very moment to change your life through changing your thought patterns. Believe in the power of your own mind and there is no limit to what you can and will achieve.