“Every man is where he is by the law of his being. The thoughts which he has built into his character have brought him there, and in the arrangement of his life there is no element of chance, but all is the result of a law which cannot err. This is just as true of those who feel “out of harmony” with their surroundings as of those who are contented with them.” ~James Allen, As A Man Thinketh.
How do you like that? He’s saying that your circumstances, good and bad, are only a result of your very own thoughts. That’s really great news, because it presupposes that you have more control over your tomorrows than perhaps you’ve ever realized.
As we learn the laws and live by them, we come to realize how much God’s hand is in everything around us. He is a God of order; this is an orderly universe. All that seems so random is not random at all. Learn the laws, live by them, and watch your life take dramatic turns towards greater prosperity.
The “Getting Personal” series has been renamed: “The Young and the Thoughtless”! If you missed the first “post” of this new series, read it here.
Congratulations to Alanna Webb! Many excellent submissions came in, for which we thank you that contributed! But when this one came in, it put a smile on our faces and a chuckle in our belly, and we couldn’t pass it up. Truly, we were Young and Thoughtless… as you will see more clearly as the story develops.
I hope that my husband and I can be considered Young still, but not “without Thought” having learned the lessons we will be sharing with you!
So now, I present you with Part 2 of the series, “The Young and the Thoughtless…”
(From our last post you read: “…But I finally consented, and while we were there, a speaker said something that saved our marriage. Didn’t make us rich, but rescued our relationship. Who would have expected such a thing from a seminar about money??”)
NOW… Let me say this. Our relationship was pretty strained on that trip already for several reasons. Number one, I was 5 months pregnant with our first baby, and was cranky and uncomfortable to begin with. Number 2, we were still driving the old ’69 Volkswagen Beetle, travelling to the Phoenix Valley in June. Number 3, we had spent our only savings to make the trip and I was still trying not to feel upset about that. Number 4, I was still jittery from having gone off the road a year before when my husband had fallen asleep at the wheel. Number 5, I was not impressed with our hotel accommodations having expected something really nice for all the money we had put out.
Trevan was frustrated with my negativity and took it personally every time I grasped the seatbelt at every little traffic danger, near or far, while we motored down the freeway.
As we sat in the seminar, we scrutinized everything anyone said. We scrutinized the music they played. We felt it was our moral obligation to judge whether or not these people were people of integrity. Very uptight and judgmental. Well, why not? The love of money was the root of all evil, after all… and we had to be cautious that we didn’t get too caught up in materialism.
We only wanted money so that I could stay home with the baby when he was born. We wanted to get out of debt. We didn’t care about fancy cars (although if we had been honest with ourselves we might have recognized the difference a nice car – a safe car – would have made on my attitude during the trip.)
So what about the speaker that “saved our marriage,” like I said? Well, he happened to be a comedian, hired to break up the seriousness of the meeting and keep us all awake. Andy Andrews. A phenomenal entertainer that has performed at the White House and has been lauded for his wholesome family-friendly content. I truly remember next to nothing of that entire 3-day seminar except for the one little quip made by Andy Andrews. I’m no comedian, and cannot rehearse his words the same way he delivered them, but he very briefly made fun of women’s faulty depth perception. Nearly perfectly he mimicked me and my highly stressed demeanor in the car. He laughed at how someone might pull out in front of the car 300 yards ahead of it, and the woman in the passenger seat will *gasp*!
White with panic, the driver will exclaim, “What’s wrong?!!” And she will answer, “someone pulled out in front of us and I thought we would crash!”
This little story coming from the speaker on stage and the roars of laughter around us made it impossible for me to continue to stew at everything that I felt was wrong with the trip. Like carbonated soda spewing out of a shaken bottle, my pent-up emotions came spilling out in the form of uproarious laughter. Trevan and I could not stop laughing, and all of a sudden, all of the stress and anger had no room to stay.
We came home with a lighter attitude toward our struggles, and a firm resolve to never miss another opportunity like that for personal growth. The facts had not changed, and our income didn’t change either, but our outlook definitely did. And that was only the beginning. Be sure to read our next post of “The Young and the Thoughtless” to see how quickly we could regress. Read about the little lessons we had to learn and see how they compare with the lessons you have learned, or have yet to learn??? I’ve heard that we will be tested over and over again with the same problem until we finally learn the lesson contained in it… the challenges do not have to be endless!
“As the progressive and evolving being, man is where he is that he may learn that he may grow; and as he learns the spiritual lesson which any circumstance contains for him, it passes away and gives place to other circumstances.” ~James Allen, As A Man Thinketh.
For the next episode of “The Young and the Thoughtless”, use the navigation links below.
- Rare Faith – Just me Geeking Out - September 16, 2023
- Round 11 – Just me Geeking Out (too much) - September 16, 2023
- Rare Faith – Attached to the Struggle? - September 8, 2023
