George Bernard Shaw said, "People are
always blaming their circumstances for what
they are. I don't believe in circumstances.
The people who get on in this world are the
people who get up and look for the
circumstances they want, and if they can't
find them, they make them."
Well, it's pretty apparent, isn't it? And
every person who discovered this believed
(for a while) that he was the first one to
work it out. We become what we think about.
Conversely, the person who has no goal,
who doesn't know where he's going, and whose
thoughts must therefore be thoughts of
confusion, anxiety and worry - his life
becomes one of frustration, fear, anxiety
and worry. And if he thinks about nothing...
he becomes nothing.
How does it work? Why do we become what
we think about? Well, I'll tell you how it
works, as far as we know. To do this, I want
to tell you about a situation that parallels
the human mind.
Suppose a farmer has some land, and it's
good, fertile land. The land gives the
farmer a choice; he may plant in that land
whatever he chooses. The land doesn't care.
It's up to the farmer to make the decision.
We're comparing the human mind with the
land because the mind, like the land,
doesn't care what you plant in it. It will
return what you plant, but it doesn't care
what you plant.
Now, let's say that the farmer has two
seeds in his hand- one is a seed of corn,
the other is nightshade, a deadly poison. He
digs two little holes in the earth and he
plants both seeds-one corn, the other
nightshade. He covers up the holes, waters
and takes care of the land...and what will
happen? Invariably, the land will return
what was planted.
As it's written in the Bible, "As ye sow,
so shall ye reap."
Remember the land doesn't care. It will
return poison in just as wonderful abundance
as it will corn. So up come the two plants -
one corn, one poison.
The human mind is far more fertile, far
more incredible and mysterious than the
land, but it works the same way. It doesn't
care what we plant...success...or failure. A
concrete, worthwhile goal...or confusion,
misunderstanding, fear, anxiety and so on.
But what we plant it must return to us.
You see, the human mind is the last great
unexplored continent on earth. It contains
riches beyond our wildest dreams. It will
return anything we want to plant.
