Thoughts Create Behavior

"Cause and effect are as absolute and undeviating in the
hidden realm of thought as in the world of visible and
material things." -- As A Man Thinketh

We remember from science class Newton's physical law that
"every action creates an equal and opposite reaction." Or,
every cause has an effect. And because it is a law, it is
absolute and undeviating. It always happens -- in every
circumstance, under every condition.

James Allen says the same law that applies in the physical
also applies in the world of thought. Every effect must have
an originating cause. Our life does not develop as a result
of chance but as a result of causes.

In the thought world, a thought (the cause) creates a
feeling (the effect). Feelings can eventually materialize in
the physical world because they create actions or behavior.
These actions cause results or outcomes, and thus our life
goes.

When we say a person "looks worried" what has taken place? A
negative thought of some kind (the cause) triggered a
feeling of worry (the effect) that materialized in the
physical world through the person's facial actions. Those
feelings may also materialize in other ways. For instance,
by increased blood pressure or nausea. All of these
"effects" originated from the original cause which was a
thought.

Dr. Wayne Dyer writes that "all of our behavior results from
the thoughts that preceded it... So the thing to work on is
not your behavior but the thing that caused your behavior,
your thoughts."

That was so liberating to me because I was so frustrated in
trying to change the behaviors that I knew were causing the
pain in my life. But I had been working on the wrong thing.

We cannot change anything in our life without first changing
the originating cause. And everything in our life originates
in our thoughts.

As Jim Rohn says: "if the idea of having to change ourselves
makes us uncomfortable, we can remain as we are. We can
choose rest over labor, entertainment over education,
delusion over truth, and doubt over confidence. The choices
are ours to make. But while we curse the effect, we continue
to nourish the cause."

And that's worth thinking about.

Vic Johnson

*excerpted from Day by Day with James Allen