Our thoughts are everything. As Shakespeare once said, “There is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so.” Neuroscientist Sam Harris mentioned in his Waking Up app that thoughts are embedded in everything. In the construction of our walls, the recipes on our tables, the engines in our cars, the fashion on our bodies, the programs in our classrooms. Someone thought it up and took action to make it happen.
People no smarter than you and I did those things. It’s not about IQ, it’s about action and perseverance and never giving up. Fueling those thoughts.
Edison’s factory burned to the ground costing a million dollars at the time (more like $23 million in today’s money) and he went on to discover many more things and formalize many more patents. His thoughts were not burned in the fire.
Engineer, physician, author and entrepreneur Peter Diamandis said, “The day before something is a breakthrough, it’s a crazy idea.”
A crazy thought. Something that will never work. Something that’s impossible.
So do we give up when others tell us we are wasting our time? Or do we soldier on? Carrying our thoughts in our minds and hearts, sharing them with others, taking action, getting up when we fall?
Thoughts bridge the space between pain and suffering. How bad things are depends on how bad we think they are.
As we close out the decade, may we remember to notice our thoughts. May we take action on the positive ones and dismiss the negative ones. May we believe in ourselves beyond reason. And may we think that absolutely anything is possible.