The greatest thinkers, teachers, and philosophers all agree on one important lesson: our thoughts create our life. What we think about comes about.

If You Think It reminds us that our lives move in the direction of our thoughts. Are you predominantly optimistic or pessimistic? Positive or negative?

We may not know which came first, the chicken or the egg. But we do know this: first comes thought, then comes results. It may be counterintuitive, but what happens to us does not color our view of the world. Our view of the world colors what happens to us.

Understanding that one small point can change everything.

That is the power and importance of this teaching.

If You Think It

By Linda Sauget

BALBOA PRESS

Copyright © 2011 Linda Sauget
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4525-3933-1

Contents

Preface.......................................xiAcknowledgments...............................xiiiChapter I Thought.............................1Chapter II Belief.............................59Chapter III Manifestation.....................102Index of Authors..............................145

Chapter One

Thought

We all have a predominant outlook on life, a way of seeing things. What we create, who we are, and what we do are all expressions of thought. Our expectations, our views of the world, our attitudes, our behaviors, and our personalities all come from our thoughts.

Some people think our worldview develops as a result of the experiences we've had. We are optimistic or pessimistic, lucky or unlucky, successful or unsuccessful all because of the things that have happened to us. We have accumulated the evidence of this.

In reality, the reverse is true: all of the "evidence" is the result of our thoughts. Our thoughts come first whether we realize it or not. It is no wonder that Peace Pilgrim said, "If you realized how powerful your thoughts are, you would never think a negative thought."

Two people can view the exact same event but have a different interpretation of what they see. Two people from the same family can recall a family situation but remember the experience differently. That's because the outlook we bring informs our memory. The thoughts we have help focus what we notice. We always gather the evidence to make ourselves right and to prove our point of view.

If I have the thought that the people I work with are unfriendly, I am going to notice evidence of that. Someone who is preoccupied and walks by me without really noticing me is going to provide proof to me that I work with unfriendly people. If I have the thought that I work with friendly people, I may be the first one to say hello and smile at the person walking by, or this may not even register in my mind as an unfriendly gesture. I may recognize that the person is preoccupied, or I may not even have the thought that I was snubbed. Nothing negative registers as the person walks by.

It may sound simplistic, but what we notice and what we don't notice are related to how we think. The actions that we take depend upon what we think, and our attitudes are the results of our thoughts. Our world is a reflection of our thoughts.

Albert Einstein once said the most important decision we will ever make is deciding whether we live in a hostile universe or a friendly universe, because that decision will color everything in our lives. We make the decision; we have the thought. Then all of the evidence supports that point of view.

Perception follows our thoughts; our interpretations follow our thoughts. What we think creates our world.

The ancestor of every action is a thought. Ralph Waldo Emerson, American poet and essayist 1803-1882

Great men are they who see that the spiritual is stronger than any material force, that thoughts rule the world. Ralph Waldo Emerson, American poet and essayist 1803-1882

The world is a product of thought. It is a creation of the mind. Swami Muktananda, Indian Hindu guru, founder of Siddha Yoga 1908-1982

We create our own world by our own thoughts. And thus we make our own heaven, and our own hell. Swami Muktananda, Indian Hindu guru, founder of Siddha Yoga 1908-1982

As he thinketh in his heart, so is he. Proverbs 23:7 KJV

If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself but to your own estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment. Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor AD 121-180

It is the mind that maketh good or ill, that maketh wretch or happy, rich or poor. Edmund Spenser, English poet 1552-1599

I think, therefore I am. Rene Descartes, French philosopher, mathematician, scientist 1596-1650

All that is comes from the mind; it is based on the mind, it is fashioned by the mind. The Pali Canon, sacred literature of Buddhism First century BC

You are today where your thoughts have brought you. You will be tomorrow where your thoughts take you. James Allen, British philosopher, poet, inspirational writer 1864-1912

Men are not influenced by things, but by their thoughts about things. Epictetus, Greek philosopher c. AD 50-c. AD 138

The highest possible stage in moral culture is when we recognize that we ought to control our thoughts. Charles Darwin, English naturalist 1809-1882

Mind is the master power that molds and makes, and we are mind, and evermore we take the tool of thought, and stating what we will, bring forth a thousand joys, a thousand ills. James Allen, British philosopher, poet, inspirational writer 1864-1912

Your life is an expression of all your thoughts. Marcus Aurelius, Roman emperor 121-180

A man is what he thinks about all day long. Ralph Waldo Emerson, American poet and essayist 1803-1882

A man is literally what he thinks. James Allen, British philosopher, poet, inspirational writer 1864-1912

You cannot escape the results of your thoughts ... Whatever your present environment may be, you will fall, remain or rise with your thoughts, your vision, your ideal. James Allen, British philosopher, poet, inspirational writer 1864-1912

Thought makes the whole dignity of man; therefore endeavor to think well, that is the only morality. Blaise Pascal, French scientist and religious philosopher 1623-1662

The more man meditates upon good thoughts, the better will be his world and the world at large. Confucius, Chinese philosopher c. 551 BC-479 BC

Good thoughts and actions can never produce bad results; bad thoughts and actions can never produce good results. James Allen, British philosopher, poet, inspirational writer 1864-1912

All that a man does outwardly is but the expression and completion of his inward thought. To work effectively, he must think clearly; to act nobly, he must think nobly. William Ellery Channing, American Unitarian preacher 1780-1842

There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so. William Shakespeare, English dramatist and poet 1564-1616

There is the positive side and the negative side and at every moment I decide. William James, American psychologist and philosopher 1842-1910

Every life has its dark and cheerful hours. Happiness comes from choosing which to remember. Anonymous

We choose our joys and sorrow long before we experience them. Kahlil Gibran, Lebanese-American poet and novelist 1883-1931

We awaken in others the same attitude of mind we hold toward them. Elbert Hubbard, American writer, publisher, artist, philosopher 1856-1915

Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking. Marcus Aurelius, Roman emperor 121-180

We think in secret, and it comes to pass—our world is but our looking glass. James Allen, British philosopher, poet, inspirational writer 1864-1912

In a universe where "like goes to like," and "birds of a feather flock together," we attract to us what we emanate. David R. Hawkins, MD, PhD, American psychiatrist, lecturer, writer 1927-

Thoughts become things! This is the underlying principle that turns a wish into reality. It's what powers positive thinking and gives rise to the Law of Attraction, and it's why visualizations work. Mike Dooley, American writer, motivational speaker 1961-

Remember that life is very simple. You create your experiences by your thinking and feeling patterns. Louise L. Hay, American motivational writer, publisher 1926-

Nothing can occur in your life experience without your invitation of it through your thought. Esther Hicks, American inspirational speaker and author 1948-

Thoughts of a kind have a natural affinity. While the negative thinker tends to draw back to himself negative results, the positive thinker activates the world around him positively. Norman Vincent Peale, American Protestant preacher and author 1898-1993

The game of life is the game of boomerangs. Our thoughts, deeds and words return to us sooner or later, with astounding accuracy. Florence Scovel Shinn, American artist, illustrator, author 1871-1940

Thought is cause; experience is effect. If you don't like the effects in your life, you have to change the nature of your thinking. Marianne Williamson, American spiritual teacher, author, lecturer 1952-

Thought creates all experience. Richard Carlson, American author, psychologist, motivational speaker 1961-2006

Thought is the power that creates human experience—the ultimate force that creates, shapes, and transforms our lives. Richard Carlson, American author, psychologist, motivational speaker 1961-2006

You are what you think. Napoleon Hill and W. Clement Stone Napoleon Hill 1883-1970, American author, journalist, lecturer. W. Clement Stone 1902-2002, American businessman, philanthropist, self-help author.

Everyone is a mirror image of yourself—your own thinking coming back at you. Byron Katie, American author, speaker 1942-

Back of everything is the immutable law of the Universe—that what you are is but the effect. Your thoughts are the cause. Robert Collier, American self-help author 1885-1950

It isn't life's events, but how one reacts to them and the attitude that one has about them, that determines whether such events have a positive or negative effect on one's life, whether they're experienced as opportunity or as stress. David R. Hawkins, MD, PhD, American psychiatrist, lecturer, writer 1927-

Happiness is wholly independent of position, wealth, or material possession. It is a state of mind which we ourselves have the power to control—and that control lies with our thinking. Claude M. Bristol, American journalist, author 1891-1951

Whatever we think about and thank about we bring about. John Demartini, DC, American author, teacher 1954-

There is a deep tendency in human nature for us to become precisely what we habitually imagine ourselves as being. Norman Vincent Peale, American Protestant preacher and author 1898-1993

Your life today is the result of your thinking yesterday. Your life tomorrow will be determined by what you think today. John C. Maxwell, Evangelical Christian pastor, author, and speaker 1947-

The thoughts we think, the words we speak, the beliefs we accept, shape our tomorrows. Louise L. Hay, American motivational writer, publisher 1926-

The world in which you live is not primarily determined by outward conditions and circumstances but by the thoughts that habitually occupy your mind. Norman Vincent Peale, American Protestant preacher and author 1898-1993

Happiness is not a possession to be prized; it is a quality of thought, a state of mind. Daphne Du Maurier, English author and playwright 1907-1989

Perhaps the biggest gift that humankind has been given is the choice to decide what thoughts and attitudes we put in our minds. Gerald G. Jampolsky and Diane V. Cirincione Co-founders of the Center for Attitudinal Healing, Tiburon, California Gerald G. Jampolsky 1925- Diane V. Cirincione 1946-

We lift ourselves by our thought.... If you want to enlarge your life, you must first enlarge your thought of it and of yourself. Orison Swett Marden, American writer 1850-1924

Nothing has any power over me other than that which I give it through my conscious thoughts. Anthony Robbins, American self-help author and success coach 1960-

You control your future, your destiny. What you think about comes about. Mark Victor Hansen, American author and motivational speaker 1948-

There is power in our thoughts. We create our own surroundings by the thoughts we think. Betty J. Eadie, American author 1948-

(Continues...)

Excerpted from If You Think Itby Linda Sauget Copyright © 2011 by Linda Sauget. Excerpted by permission of BALBOA PRESS. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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