Jason Versey's Blog - Posts Tagged "thinking"
WE ARE WHAT WE THINK WE ARE
The late Norman Vincent Peale shared a story about one of his trips to China. Dr. Peale writes that while walking through the congested twisted roads of Kowloon in Hong Kong, he came upon a tattoo shop. The outside window displayed a multitude of examples that could be chosen from. As he gazed upon the different varieties he came upon one that simply said "Born to lose." Somewhat unsettled he entered the shop and pointed to that particular tattoo and then asked the Chinese tattoo artist,"Does anyone really have that terrible phrase, "Born to lose," tattooed on their body?" The tattoo artist answered, "Yes" "But," Mr. Peale then said, "I can't imagine anyone in their right mind would do that." The Chinese man simply tapped his forehead and said in broken English, "Before tattoo on body…tattoo on mind."
The ideas that we foster (about ourselves) in our own minds often have a positive or negative affect on our reality. The words we tell ourselves are manifested in our reality (whether good or bad) and often have a weighty impact on the actuality of our lives. The wisdom of the bible says this in Proverbs: “Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.” One could interpret…that there is living power in the things we say and the consequence and rewards of them can and will be manifested. I believe this is even more applicable in the words we express to ourselves. Those constant affirmations (lovely or ill) we tell ourselves are eventually tattooed into the very fiber of our being and inks healing or sickness, joy or pain, love or fear into the very fabric of our lives.
“Man can only be what he sees himself to be, and only attain what he sees himself attaining....Man sees first his failure or success, his joy or sorrow, before it swings into visibility from the scenes set in his own imagination.” —Florence Scovel Shinn
Science has affirmed this notion. Émile Coué de la Châtaigneraie (February 26, 1857 – July 2, 1926) was a French psychologist who introduced a popular method of psychotherapy based upon optimistic autosuggestion. By using the power of positive thinking he developed a technique which relied upon a principle that any idea solely inhabiting the mind often becomes our reality, to the extent that the idea is within the realm of possibility. For example, a person missing a finger is not able to make it regenerate, however, if a person firmly believes that his (or her) illness is disappearing, then this may actually happen, as far as the body is able to physically overcome or control it. Conversely, he believed that thinking negatively about the illness ("I am not feeling well") encouraged both the mind and body to accept this thought as truth and thus the mind and body responded accordingly. Emile Coué recognized and determined, based upon his experiences, that it was highly beneficial for his patience to focus on a desired, positive result (ex "I am healthy and energetic" rather than “I am unhealthy and tired”. Coué believed strongly in the value of medication but he also believed that our mental state of mind is able to affect and even amplify the action of those medications. By consciously using autosuggestion, he observed that his patients could cure themselves by replacing their thoughts of “illness" with new thoughts of a “healing cure". He would often give his patients a placebo and then ask them to apply this now famous mantra of conscious autosuggestion phrase; "Every day, in every way, I am getting better and better" and observed how his patience actually began to get better.
There is power when we say “I AM…” for whatever follows those two simple words determines exactly who and what we become. No matter your circumstance the power to turn things around begins with your thoughts. No matter what we’ve been through the power to endure it begins with our thoughts. No matter where we come from or mistakes we have made the power to change begins with our thoughts. When we say I Am…”poor, unemployable, stupid, ugly, unlovable, fat, ect…” we are reinforcing a negative belief system that attracts more of the same in our lives. Conversely, when we earnestly say I Am…”blessed, grateful, loved, healthy and filled with joy” it’s amazing what we in turn experience.
“A particular train of thought persisted in, be it good or bad, cannot fail to produce its results on the character and circumstances. A man cannot directly choose his circumstances, but he can choose his thoughts, and so indirectly, yet surely, shapes his circumstances. ” ― James Allen, As a Man Thinketh
We are made in the image of God. God, The Great I AM resides in all of creation. His power and His love resides within us all.
So say it with me…
"Every day, in every way, I am getting better and better"
Proverbs 18:21; Émile Coué." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2008. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 26 Dec. 2008,
The ideas that we foster (about ourselves) in our own minds often have a positive or negative affect on our reality. The words we tell ourselves are manifested in our reality (whether good or bad) and often have a weighty impact on the actuality of our lives. The wisdom of the bible says this in Proverbs: “Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.” One could interpret…that there is living power in the things we say and the consequence and rewards of them can and will be manifested. I believe this is even more applicable in the words we express to ourselves. Those constant affirmations (lovely or ill) we tell ourselves are eventually tattooed into the very fiber of our being and inks healing or sickness, joy or pain, love or fear into the very fabric of our lives.
“Man can only be what he sees himself to be, and only attain what he sees himself attaining....Man sees first his failure or success, his joy or sorrow, before it swings into visibility from the scenes set in his own imagination.” —Florence Scovel Shinn
Science has affirmed this notion. Émile Coué de la Châtaigneraie (February 26, 1857 – July 2, 1926) was a French psychologist who introduced a popular method of psychotherapy based upon optimistic autosuggestion. By using the power of positive thinking he developed a technique which relied upon a principle that any idea solely inhabiting the mind often becomes our reality, to the extent that the idea is within the realm of possibility. For example, a person missing a finger is not able to make it regenerate, however, if a person firmly believes that his (or her) illness is disappearing, then this may actually happen, as far as the body is able to physically overcome or control it. Conversely, he believed that thinking negatively about the illness ("I am not feeling well") encouraged both the mind and body to accept this thought as truth and thus the mind and body responded accordingly. Emile Coué recognized and determined, based upon his experiences, that it was highly beneficial for his patience to focus on a desired, positive result (ex "I am healthy and energetic" rather than “I am unhealthy and tired”. Coué believed strongly in the value of medication but he also believed that our mental state of mind is able to affect and even amplify the action of those medications. By consciously using autosuggestion, he observed that his patients could cure themselves by replacing their thoughts of “illness" with new thoughts of a “healing cure". He would often give his patients a placebo and then ask them to apply this now famous mantra of conscious autosuggestion phrase; "Every day, in every way, I am getting better and better" and observed how his patience actually began to get better.
There is power when we say “I AM…” for whatever follows those two simple words determines exactly who and what we become. No matter your circumstance the power to turn things around begins with your thoughts. No matter what we’ve been through the power to endure it begins with our thoughts. No matter where we come from or mistakes we have made the power to change begins with our thoughts. When we say I Am…”poor, unemployable, stupid, ugly, unlovable, fat, ect…” we are reinforcing a negative belief system that attracts more of the same in our lives. Conversely, when we earnestly say I Am…”blessed, grateful, loved, healthy and filled with joy” it’s amazing what we in turn experience.
“A particular train of thought persisted in, be it good or bad, cannot fail to produce its results on the character and circumstances. A man cannot directly choose his circumstances, but he can choose his thoughts, and so indirectly, yet surely, shapes his circumstances. ” ― James Allen, As a Man Thinketh
We are made in the image of God. God, The Great I AM resides in all of creation. His power and His love resides within us all.
So say it with me…
"Every day, in every way, I am getting better and better"
Proverbs 18:21; Émile Coué." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2008. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 26 Dec. 2008,
