"Our circumstances and environment are formed by our thoughts."

 Charles Haanel

‘The Master Key’, (1917)

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You either believe that, disbelieve it, or you are not quite sure. 

Only one of those three choices excuses you from an obligation to exercise your power of will. 

Only one of those three choices places your success firmly in your hands - and before that, firmly in your thoughts.

The following 'picture' comes to mind...

When I was a child, adults used a saying, "It takes all kinds". That saying was uttered in response to someone else acting in a strange way. It was a quick way of signaling the fact people behave in many different ways. That is true: people do behave in very different ways. Often, regardless of their deep beliefs, people behave in very different and unpredictable ways. And, sometimes people behave in fickle, inconsistent ways.

In fact, when you really stop and observe, people are walking/talking contradictions. If that were not the case then we wouldn't have had tom come up with that admonition, "Talk the talk and walk the walk".

Back to, or at least toward, the point behind this post...

Every rational person, at least to a degree, behaves in ways that confirm belief in the view that our circumstances and environment are formed by our thoughts. Every rational person knows that thought precedes action, some of the time if not most of the time. And, every rational person knows that tomorrow’s ‘future circumstances and environment’ are affected by today’s actions, some of which are the consequences of today’s [or yesterday’s] thoughts.

So, every rational person embraces [at least to a small degree] the ‘Law of Attraction’.

And, every rational person places at least a small amount of belief in ‘Power of Will’.

It is only a matter of degree…

...and how we intend to put this belief to good, constructive use.

Recently, the following quote caught my attention:

"Time is the substance from which I am made."

Jorge Luis Borges

Argentine Author & Poet, (1899-1986)

Quotes about time always catch my attention…because (1) I have always been and still am fascinated by the concepts of time-physics and (2) over recent years, I am alarmed by the increasing number of people who think and say they things like, “I don’t have time.”

I am not familiar with the work of Jorge Luis Borges, so I can only speculate on the context around his quote. Without context, I interpret the quote in my own way. 'Subjective opportunities' - perhaps that is the best measure of a quote's value?

Here, I will not be providing an interpretation of, "Time is the substance from which I am made." Instead, I will share some thoughts the quote triggered.

My first reaction to the quote was to do a double-take….I thought I had mis-read the sentence. After reading the quote the 2^nd time and reaching a conclusion about its meaning, for some reason, a question-thought hit me:

“If you don't have time, what do you have?”

The answer to that question came quickly:

“If you don't have time, you have nothing.”

Whether or not time is the substance from which we are made, if we don’t have time then we have nothing.

Perhaps, that’s why I have such a problem when people say things like, “I don’t have time.” Perhaps, that’s why I feel their self-brainwashing is so damaging..so spirit-killing…so unnatural ...

Perhaps, that’s why I now feel the most helpful thing you can do when people say "I don't have time" is ask, "If you don't have time, what do you have?"

Since you care, you ought to offer these wrong-thinking people at least that provocation.

If you care even more about helping people make positive changes, and the situation lends itself…

Help them understand, if they continue to think and say they do not have time then they are right – they do not and never will have time.

And, help them understand, if they do not have time then they have nothing.

Footnote - article About Time

It is a shame we were taught so much about so many things and yet, during our decades of education, most of us received no education on ‘Insight’.

We should fix that shortcoming…for ourselves…better late than never…and for future generations…better now than later.

Time to get started – an introduction –  the following is an excerpt from Charles Haanel’s ‘The Master Key’, a course presented in 1912 and formulated into a book in 1917.

"Insight is a faculty of the mind whereby we are enabled to examine facts and conditions at long-range, a kind of human telescope; it enables us to understand the difficulties as well as the possibilities in any undertaking.

Insight enables us to be prepared for the obstacles which we shall meet; we can therefore overcome them before they have any opportunity of causing difficulty.

Insight enables us to plan to advantage and turn our thought and attention in the right direction, instead of into channels which can yield no possible return.

Insight is therefore absolutely essential for the development of any great achievement; with it we may enter, explore and possess any mental field.

Insight is a product of the world within and is developed in the Silence, by concentration."

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Some questions to consider:

Are we born with Insight?

Can we improve our Insight?

How do we nurture Insight?