Man is Mind

"Mind is the master power that molds and makes, and Man is Mind, and ever more he takes the Tool of Thought, and shaping what he wills, brings forth a thousand joys, a thousand ills- He thinks in secret and it comes to pass; Environment is but his looking-glass."
- James Allen

  I heard this quote yesterday and absolutely fell in love with it. Usually I very strongly dislike analyzing and thinking critically, but I couldn't help but consider what this meant. To me, Allen is saying that Man posses the most powerful tool in existence, the ability to process, develop, and execute thoughts. After all, everything that ever was, is, and will be started with a single thought. Our ability to think the way humans do is what makes us the dominant species of this world.



Through the Looking Glass

   The ability to think like this can be the source of our happiness as well as our troubles. We choose our thoughts and our mindset. If we dwell on how stressed we are or things we wish we had, we're only bringing the misery onto ourselves.

  Our lives are what we think them to be, which you can connect to the phrase, "Life is what you make it". However, life makes and molds us just as much as we do the same to it. It throws things at us, and how we react and what we let it do to us forms who we are. You and your life are whatever you perceive the two to be. If you don't like it, it's in your power to change anything about it until it's exactly what you want.

  Now I'm not entirely sure what to make of "He thinks in secret and it comes to pass". Obviously, our own thoughts are secret to the world unless we choose to them them, but what is it that comes to pass? I think this relates to the ever present theme of life: Change. We are constantly changing and going through phases. I think Allen is referring to our intellectual changes, such as opinions, theories, and beliefs. After waking up in the morning, experiencing and being exposed to the world, we can't really go to bed as the exact same person we were when we woke up. In just twenty-four hours we learn and process so much. New opinions form, old opinions change, we make decisions that effect the rest of our lives.

Change

  Based on these changing thoughts, beliefs, ideas, and opinions we choose how to present ourselves and what to surround ourselves with. What we keep close to us and put emphasis on reflects who we have decided to be for that period of time. This is our environment showing us as well as others who we are. It doesn't even have to be a physical place. This environment can be where your mind is or simply what look you decide to try. In this sense, I think environment is a very broad term.

  Go take a moment every now and then to look into your looking glass and see what looks back at you.