TODAY THE WORD is THINK. I was given a great book a little while back, HOW SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE THINK by John C. Maxwell and it got me to thinking. The phrase, He or she wasn’t thinking and that is not a true thought. We all think; but how do we think? One of the phrases which stuck in my mind was the one by David Schwartz, “Where success is concerned, people are not measured in inches , or pounds, or college degrees, or family backgrounds; they are measured by the size of their thinking.”
I would like for us to think about this phrase for a few seconds or if you are really serious about being successful; think about it for several minutes and dissect it by sections. Success means what to you? Is it monetary, educational, spiritual (and I have this one high on my list) or relationships? Then let’s think how we can measure our success in the preferred fields. I have seen people with college degrees who are brilliant; I have also seen the same level of education people who couldn’t figure their way out of a dark room with a flashlight. I have seen people who come from a horrible family background rise above the crowds and create magnificent inventions, businesses, etc.so what made the difference. The phrase said it all: The size of their thinking is the key. Not the IQ, nor the environment, and not even the education level. The mind is capable of so much more than we give it credit and the only difference is people in any environment is how much they think how to better their situation. Let me go to a ridiculous example by remembering I said there are some people who couldn’t find their way out of a dark room with a flashlight. Here is how two people can look at this situation and come out with different results. 1) Person finds himself in a dark room and doesn’t know how to get to the door and leave the room; finds a flashlight and because it is dark doesn’t see the switch on the side; feels frustrated and throws the flashlight down thinking it doesn’t work. He struggles to find his way in the dark, falling over obstacles and hurting himself. 2) Person finds himself in a dark room and doesn’t know how to get to the door and leave the room; finds a flashlight and because it is dark, doesn’t see the switch on the side; stops and thinks every flashlight has a switch and he feels up and down the flashlight until he discovers the switch, turns the flashlight on and sees the light switch on the side of the wall. He walks toward the light switch and turns it on; turns off the flashlight for future use. He sees the door knob and opens it, turning off the light switch before he leaves the room. The only difference between the two men, both either uneducated or educated; whether brought up in a great environment or the worst conditions, was the amount of thought given to the situation. We should not be conditioned by surroundings; we should condition our thoughts. Thinking in a positive light, in a constructive light, in a spiritual light, and always in a humanitarian light will turn the light on in our minds. Use the flashlight instead of blaming the world for a dark room. Thinking is probably the best form of mental exercise our bodies can do; so think 1, 2, 3; think 1, 2, 3!
DAILY FEATURED BIBLE VERSE:
Philippians 4:8 ESV
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
(c) copyright 2014 Arline Lott Miller. The material here copyrighted, use only by permission.
