Altering thought process

We, as human beings, can change our lives by altering our thinking process that reinforces the attitudes of mind towards the expectation that we envisage.

As we think, so we shall be. So flush out old, tired, worn-out thoughts. Let us fill our mind with fresh, new creative thoughts of faith, love, and goodness. By such process we can actually remake our life.

How do and where do we find such personality remaking thoughts?

I know a business executive, a modest man, but the type of individual who is never defeated. No problem, no set back, no opposition ever gets him down. He simply attacks each difficulty with an optimistic attitude and sure confidence that it will work out right, and in some strange way, it always does for him. He seems to have a magic touch on life - a touch that never fails.

Because of that impressive characteristic this man always interested me. I knew there was a definite explanation of his being this way and of course, wanted to hear his story. But in view of his modesty and antisocial behavior, it was not easy to persuade him to talk about himself.

One day, when he was in the mood, he told me his secret; an amazingly simple but effective secret. I was visiting his unit, a simple, up-to-date structure, much of it air-conditioned. Robust methods & systems equipped with well-maintained instruments comprising of various jigs and fixtures that produce the products in his shop with outstanding efficiency. Labor management relations seem as nearly perfect as is possible among imperfect human beings. A spirit of goodwill pervades the entire organization.

His office is also very simple but had an ultramodern decor and was furnished with handsome desks, rugs, and paneled with exotic woods.

Imagine my surprise to see on his highly polished desk an old battered copy of Bhagwat Gita and the Bible, along with many ethical books full of inspirational stories extracted from ancient great history.On seeing my surprise over those books he replied, "These books, along with Bhagwat Gita and the Bible are the most up-to-date things on this planet. Equipment warts out and furnishing styles change, but these books are so far ahead of us that they never become out of date."

He continued with his modest way of soft-spoken style.

"When I was studying in college, one day my mother gave me Bhagwat Gita and it so happen surprisingly. on the same day, one of my favorite teachers, who taught us physics, gifted me the Bible with the suggestion that if I would read and practice its teachings, I would learn how to get through life successfully. But I thought at my age, they both seemed old and to humor my mother and teacher, I took them. For years I never looked at them. I thought I didn't need them."

"Well," he continued with smile, "I was a dope and stupid, and got my life into a terrific mess. Everything went wrong primarily because I was wrong. I was thinking wrong, acting wrong, doing wrong. I succeeded at nothing, failed at everything. Now I realize that my practical trouble was wrong thinking. I was negative, resentful, smug, and opinionated. Nobody could tell me anything. I thought I knew everything. I was filled with gripes about everybody. Little wonder nobody liked me. I certainly was a 'wash-out'.

Days passed. One day while going through some papers, I came across the long forgotten books of ethical thoughts that were gifted to me, which brought up old memories and I started aimlessly to read them. Day and night without interruption I continued reading one after another and do you know, a strange thing happened.Just in a flashing moment of time, everything became different. As I was reading, many incidences that were described in these ethical and holy books leaped up at me and changed my life; I mean changed it. From the minute I read them everything has been different, tremendously different.

What is this wonderful thing that as a weapon killed all my misery?

Faith in me, through the power that I received in my thought process from the infinite intelligence, is the strength of my life and that gave birth to the confident me. I could not understand why this thing affected me so, but it did. I know that I was weak and negative; a defeatist. Something happened inside my mind. I guess I had what they call a 'spiritual experience'. My thought pattern shifted from negative to positive.

I decided to put faith in myself and sincerely do my best, trying to follow the principle of ethical thoughts that were outlined in these books. As I did so, I began to get hold of a new set of thoughts. In time, my old failure thoughts were flushed out by this new spiritual experience and an inflow of new thoughts emerged gradually by actually remaking me."

This is the story of a friend of mine: "a successful businessman". He altered his thinking. The new thoughts, which flowed in, displaced the old thoughts which had been defeating him and his life was changed.

This incident illustrates an important fact about human nature: you can think your way to failure and unhappiness but you can also think your way to success and happiness. The world in which we live is not primarily determined by outward conditions and circumstances, but by thoughts that habitually occupy our mind. We should remember the wise words of Marcus Aurelius, one of the great thinkers of antiquity, who said: "A man's life is what his thoughts make of it."