The Connection Between Thought and Circumstance

I was sitting along the creek, alone with my thoughts and the harmony that only the sound of running water can bring. The autumn chill was in the air, and the rustle of the breeze through the leaves added to the symphony of serenity.

A young woman was reading a book on my left, and an elderly gentleman was practicing Tai Chi about 30 feet away. A Suzuki motorcycle pulled up and parked at the edge of the street. The rider was dressed all in black leather, and had the look of a courier.

He dismounted, removed a brown sack from his cargo box, and sat about 20 feet away from me. I spied him as he removed a cold chicken drumstick and some kind of sandwich, which he ate and chased with a bottle of Sprite.

It's October, in the south end of Dublin, Ireland, and I'm on the banks of the canal that runs under Baggot Street. I chose to spend my lunch here, instead of at the five-star hotel where I am staying.

Pigeons are strutting around me, and a young man is lying with his head nestled in the lap of his girlfriend. I didn't ask them, but I'll bet the other patrons in my creek-side café would agree that there isn't a restaurant in town that can rival the dining experience here.

Now the food at my hotel is great, but Ireland suffers from the same disease as the U.K. Namely that they think all restaurants should be gloomy caves, with dark mahogany wood and plenty of smoke. You'll find more windows in a submarine, than inside the average restaurant here.

So Why Am I At The Canal Other Than For Obivious Reasons

Take a trip to any jail or prison and you will meet hundreds of people who will tell you they are the victims of circumstances. Enter any big city ghetto or barrio and you'll see the same thing.

If you venture through some affluent, high-class WASP neighborhood in Connecticut, you discover the same thing. Likewise if you stroll through a middle-class neighborhood in London or Leeds, Cologne or Copenhagen. You will meet people who believe they are the result of their circumstances, good or bad.

They will talk about the opportunities they were given, or the chances they were denied. They may be grateful for the education they were exposed to, or bemoan the fact they were denied one. One person will celebrate his upbringing, while another will decry hers.

Yes. Income, status, caste, education, upbringing, neighborhood, family and many other circumstances will influence, effect and even determine your station in life.

But Who Creates The Circumstances

The effect of thought on circumstance.

In "As A Man Thinketh," James Allen tells us that our minds are like a garden, which can be intelligently cultivated, or allowed to run wild. In either event, it will bring forth.

If you plant and tend your garden, it will produce flowers or fruits, the things you cultivate. If you don't plant specific seeds, then animals, wind and other elements will cause random things to fall into it, producing an abundance of weeds and wild vegetation, likely to choke out useful plants. One thing is certain. Something will grow in your garden.

Just as a gardener must tend his or her plot, keeping out the weeds, you must tend the garden of your mind, weeding out the thoughts of lack, limitation and negativity. You must nurture and tend the thoughts of happiness, success and purpose. If you practice gardening of this kind, you will soon discover that you are the master gardener of your soul. You will come to the profound revelation that you are not the victim of your circumstances-but the architect of them. For it is the thoughts that you give precedence to that shape your character, create your circumstances, and determine your ultimate destiny.

Please Read That Last Sentence Again...

No one wakes up one day in prison, or divorce court, or the emergency room. It is the direct result of the thoughts you have had up to that point.

Now if you are like most people, this is the part where you start to mentally make excuses for yourself . . .

You believe that what I just said is true for other people most of the time, but you are quite certain that you have been the victim of extenuating circumstances beyond your control.

I Know. Your Situation Is Different. You're Special...

Because my situation was different. I was special...

I was in at least eleven negative, dysfunctional relationships because my partners were neurotic, excessively jealous and needy. They were always making demands on me because they couldn't meet their own needs.

In the first restaurant I owned, the guy I hired to run it was falsifying the sales figures and keeping 80% of the sales. This went on for almost four months before we caught him, long enough to put me out of business.

In the hair salon I bought, my partner actually stole the fixtures one weekend and sold them. The tax authorities seized the pizzeria I had.

In each case, I was just the innocent victim, manipulated and injured by others, always fighting against the circumstances, bad luck, etc.

Bull!

I chose those relationships; I hired that manager; I attracted my business partners, like I chose to start a business without enough capital and didn't pay my taxes.

You don't simply end up in jail or the hospital, bankrupt, or alone. No more than you simply wake up rich, successful, happy, and healthy. All these circumstances are the result of thousands of little decisions, which are reached as a result of hundreds of thousands of thoughts. The thoughts you give precedence to.

So Just How Does That Work

Some of you have heard the story I tell on my "Prosperity" audio album about the wake-up call I got one day in California. I had just had dinner with Spence and Shivani, a couple I respected a great deal. I had spent the meal doing what I always did at that time. I regaled them with all the bad breaks, poor luck, and unfortunate circumstances that had been happening to me.

Afterward, as we were getting into their car, Spence said to me, "Have you given any thought to what you're doing to manifest all this?"

Well I was simply devastated. I couldn't believe how insensitive, uncaring, and clueless he was! I couldn't believe that he didn't understand and empathize with what an innocent victim I was.

I chewed on that for about three weeks before it finally dawned on me that Spence was right. And that's a very ugly realization to have.

But a very liberating one. Because once you get it-and you take ultimate responsibility for what is happening in your life-you start to think about how that really comes about.

I just got an email from someone two days ago. She has been struggling financially for quite some time. She has major health challenges, relationship issues, and some other drama going on. Now she writes to tell me that she was just in a serious car accident.

Another old friend of mine is struggling financially. He has for the last five years I've known him, but this time, he just got laid off.

I'm quite sure that you know people in similar kinds of patterns. It wrenches your heart, but sometimes you have to step back and let them alone. The people I have talked about, I care about. But I can't help them yet. Because they don't understand this connection between thought and circumstance . . .

Sure I could send some money to the lady with the car accident. I will throw some business to my other friend anonymously. But I'm afraid these are just band-aids on a tumor. Because they will always need another check and another chance, until they make the connection we are talking about.

So Let's Talk About How All This Applies To You

Of course you don't do it consciously. But you do it.

I always believed that I wanted to be healthy. But I had allergy problems, a bad back, and a lot of other challenges that kept me sick. Most of them were hereditary. Or so I thought . . .

At that time, I had a hard time expressing love, and having it expressed to me. I didn't hug, say "I love you," or other expressions of emotion. I wasn't psychologically able to, at that point in my life.

After the string of dysfunctional relationships, I finally got into therapy. It took me about three years, but I finally got to the point where I could express and accept love. An amazing thing happened . . .

My health problems all miraculously cleared up. I had been holding on to sickness, because on a subconscious level, that is how I believed you attracted loving attention. I didn't realize it then of course. But I know now, that is exactly what was happening.

You can believe that you want to be successful, wealthy and powerful. Yet on a subconscious level, you may have some serious lack programming. So on this subconscious level, you may fear that if you get rich and successful, your family and friends won't like you anymore, or you won't fit in. So you could hold yourself back, and sabotage your own success.

Now Here's The Thing...

And I knew that if I wanted to "fit in," I needed to stay sick, broke and stupid.

Which I wasn't willing to do. So I changed a lot of things in my life, most importantly, the thoughts I give precedence to.

Which is why I am here at Baggot Creek, instead of the smoky restaurant at the Ballsridge Hotel. So where are you reading this? And how have you spent your day so far?