Thoughts are things. It’s the title of one of Napoleon Hill’s opening chapters in Think and Grow Rich. Not long ago that concept was novel. Now it is accepted as self evident and a crucial part of creating abundance.

The significance of our thoughts being tangible things is two-fold: how do thoughts effect our lives and how do we then use our thoughts in a positive way. Let me first address the influence that this knowledge adda to our lives.

The character of our thoughts has a tangible impact. Simply put, thoughts of a positive nature bring positive benefits and thoughts of a negative nature bring negative consequences. This thought process seems clear enough but the obvious does not necessarily translate into easily managed.

Let’s start with…where do thoughts come from? Well, they are either internal or external. If they are external, they are coming from a variety of sources such as parents, teachers and religious leaders, from society such as the media or entertainment, from government and from our peers. Sources from within are our self talk or the voices in our head. Those come from our meditation or prayers or time in nature in other words our internal dialog.

One thought without emotion is not going to effect a person to any degree. However, when we think a thought again and again and charge it with emotion, we begin to group our thoughts together to create a belief and then a belief system.

It will be clearer for you to comprehend if I offer you an example. Since environmental issues are on many minds today I’ll use the example of the electric car. Not long ago, the notion of an electric car was thought to be unworkable. One of the primary reasons was that the battery charge was not sufficient to take us where we wanted to drive.

Then the price of gas increased to exorbitant amounts giving an added incentive to make alternative energy work. Technology improved. Styles changed. Today the belief system around buying an electric car has changed immensely.

Hybrids have made the transition easier but now a completely electric car is not only workable, it is also desirable. If you want to purchase one, you have to reserve one. There will be no price dealing. You will pay the full sticker price and gladly.

Of what importance is all of this to you? This is a current example of how we create and use our beliefs. An example from the past was the belief that the earth was the center of the Universe with the sun rotating around the earth. This belief challenged the existing belief to the extent that its proponent, Galileo, was ordered to stand trial for heresy and was found guilty. His sentence was imprisonment which was later commuted to house arrest.

With strong emotions, beliefs progress into convictions. So much so that people exhibit extreme acts as a result of their convictions. Our country is based on the convictions of such a group of men, men who valued freedom above all else. Today we have a new term to label a person who will die for his or her convictions concerning religion and/or politics. That term is suicide bomber, but regrettably, this person will also kill by-standers while taking his or her own life.

The phrase, thoughts are things, has a responsibility attached to it, but the responsibility is one’s own. We individually owe ourself the ability to control our thoughts to bring positive benefits into our life. When one is creating abundance, it is a definite advantage to create positive beliefs and belief systems.

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