Tip: Thinking is hard work!
One of the most powerful words in the English language is the word THINK. What happens to us in life will largely be determined by our ability to use our minds and learn how to properly think about matters as we reason through situations.
Consider for a moment: What you do for a living, as well as how you handle your money, time and relationships is all a direct result of the way you think. Who you married and how many children you have are the results of your thinking (or in some cases, perhaps a lack of thinking)! In any case, our thinking process is paramount to almost every area of life. It affects how we act, how we live and how we treat other people. I once heard Brian Tracy say that the vocations that pay the most amount of money are directly related to one activity, thinking!
Thinking can be both positive and negative; it can be both proactive and reactive. If I think things through, I will always be in a better position to make wiser choices or decisions. If I choose not to think things through for myself, then I will be left subject to whatever transpires in my life by the choices of others. In other words, if I do not learn to think properly and then act on my wise choices, I have no one to blame but myself.
Lodovico Buonarroti was the father of Michelangelo. He was a very wealthy man. He had no real understanding of the incredible, unique gifts and talents of his young son. Whenever Michelangelo tried to do manual labor with his hands, his father would beat him. No child of his was going to be a mere laborer who soiled his hands with work! So, incredible as it may seem, Michelangelo learned from childhood to primarily use his mind to work rather than his hands.
Years later, a visiting prince came to Michelangelo’s studio to watch the master at work and found him sitting in front of an eighteen foot block of solid marble just staring at it. The prince had heard rumors concerning the odd way Michelangelo worked and now found them to be true. Every day for four months, the great artist and sculptor had sat and stared at the marble all day and then went home for dinner.
The prince asked the obvious question, “What are you doing?”
Michelangelo turned to look at him and whispered, “I’m working.”
Three years later, that block of marble was the statue of DAVID.
Growing up, Michelangelo had been forced to learn a secret – to use his mind, to think things through, to see with his inner mind and heart what he could not yet see with his eyes or touch with his physical hands. It all began on the inside of him before it worked its way outside of him.
Why not begin to raise the bar for yourself? Begin to see the direct correlation between how you think and the results or outcomes that are currently transpiring in your life. If you like what is taking place perhaps it is the result of good thinking. If you do not like what is taking place, maybe it is the result of bad thinking, or worse yet, no thinking at all! As the old Proverb states, “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he!”
I am painfully aware of the consequences that not thinking things through can bring into a person’s life. I have had to work on this quality for many years and I still feel like I am just a beginner. Some of you are already great thinkers and I admire you for that quality. I am discovering it is a skill set that can be learned.
Wherever you are on life’s journey, let me encourage you to use your mind to help you see the “DAVID” that could become a masterpiece in your own life. It is certainly worth thinking about – wouldn’t you agree?
Tip: Thinking is hard work!
Have a great week! God bless you!
