Unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered, you will never grow.
- Ronald E. Osborn


Make Some Light!

Good thoughts and actions can never produce bad results; bad thoughts and actions can never produce good results. This is but saying that nothing can come from corn but corn, nothing from nettles but nettles. Men understand this law in the natural world, and work with it; but few understand it in the mental and moral world (though its operation there is just as simple and undeviating), and they, therefore, do not cooperate with it.

James Allen here reveals a truth: that which we receive is rightly aligned. Right action yields only right results—impure action yields impure results. Thus, man has the opportunity to accept the aligned nature of the universe and begin to focus upon and to energize good thoughts, word and action to yield good results. In the immortal words of ancient philosopher Hermes Trismegistus “As within, so without.”

When was a time that you held a thought, spoke a word, or took an action that created a positive result? What action will you commit to taking NOW—big or small—that creates a positive effect on your life or the life of one around you?

Make Some Light!

In another and better world, things may be different, but in this world to grow is to change and to change is to have grown much.

- John Henry Cardinal Newman

Make Some Light!

It is pleasing to human vanity to believe that one suffers because of one’s virtue; but not until a man has extirpated every sickly, bitter, and impure thought from his mind, and washed every sinful stain from his soul, can he be in a position to know and declare that his sufferings are the result of his good, and not of his bad qualities; and on the way to, yet long before he has reached, that supreme perfection, he will have found, working in his mind and life, the Great Law which is absolutely just, and which cannot, therefore, give good for evil, evil for good. Possessed of such knowledge, he will then know, looking back upon his past ignorance and blindness, that life is, and always was, justly ordered, and that all his past experiences, good and bad, were the equitable outworking of his evolving, yet unevolved self.

James Allen here conveys that to the degree to which we experience suffering, we are holding within us the roots of that suffering. All outer expressions are simply feedback of where we are on our journey to purity. Herein lies the seed of compassionate Self-acceptance.

Are there areas in your life that you have judged yourself as powerless or unfulfilled? What would it look like for you to feel powerful and/or fulfilled in these areas? What one action can you take NOW—big or small—that you believe will move you closer to remaining in this powerful and/or fulfilled state?

Make Some Light!

A man is not idle because he is absorbed in thought. There is a visible labor and there is an invisible labor. - Victor Hugo

Make Some Light!

Circumstances, however, are so complicated, thought is so deeply rooted, and the conditions of happiness vary so vastly with individuals, that a man's entire soul condition (although it may me known to himself) cannot be judged by another from the external aspect of this life alone. A man may be honest in certain directions, yet suffer privations; a man may be dishonest in certain directions, yet acquire wealth; but the conclusion usually formed that the one man fails because of his particular honesty, and that the other prospers because of his particular dishonesty, is the result of superficial judgment, which assumes that the dishonest man is almost totally corrupt, and that the honest man is almost entirely virtuous. In the light of a deeper knowledge and wider experience, such judgment is found to be erroneous. The dishonest man may have some admirable virtues which the other does not possess; and the honest man obnoxious vices which are absent in the other. The honest man reaps the good results of his honest thoughts and acts; he also brings upon himself the sufferings which his vices produce. The dishonest man likewise garners his own suffering and happiness.

James Allen here conveys that we are always more than we appear to be. No man is black or white, but shades of gray, growing through thoughts, words, actions and experiences in one direction or another; towards purity or murkiness. Outer expression alone is insufficient to evaluate the totality of a man-the honest man my hide dubious qualities, while the dishonest man may hold virtuous qualities. In truth, every man is both a sinner and a saint, and the totality of a man's life-results expresses in the outer world-both honest and dishonest man will experience happiness and suffering in line with his moral strengths and weaknesses.

Where do you experience a challenge in your life? What actions do your take or fail to take that contribute to this challenge? What different action can you take NOW-small or large-to shift this challenging circumstance in your life? What support do you need, from yourself or others, to begin to move away from the actions that create or perpetuate this challenging circumstance?

Make Some Light!

I have introduced these three cases merely as illustrative of the truth that man is the causer (though nearly always unconsciously) of his circumstances, and that, whilst aiming at a good end, he is continually frustrating its accomplishment by encouraging thoughts and desires which cannot possibly harmonize with that end. Such cases could be multiplied and varied almost indefinitely, but this is not necessary, as the reader can, if he so resolves, trace the action of the laws of thought in his own mind and life, and until this is done, mere external facts cannot serve as a ground of reasoning.

James Allen here introduces two essential concepts: (1) man is the sole creator of his circumstances, and (2) that creation is nearly always unconscious. This distinction explains how frequently a stated intention differs or competes with an unconscious intention that may be its direct opposite. Thus, man often works against his best efforts, self-sabotaging his conscious actions to feed his unconscious needs. The degree to which conscious action differs from stated intention reveals the unconscious master-the thought and need that is truly being served.

What have you always dreamed about doing, having or being? What would it feel like if you did, had or were that NOW? What has stopped you from doing, having or being this to date? What one action can you take NOW-big or small-to move towards doing, having or being what you've dreamed of?

Make Some Light!

The miracle, or the power, that elevates the few is to be found in their perseverance under the promptings of a brave, determined spirit.
- Mark Twain

Make Some Light!

Here is an employer of labor who adopts crooked measures to avoid paying the regulation wage, and, in the hope of making larger profits, reduces the wages of his work-people. Such a man is altogether unfitted for prosperity, and when he finds himself bankrupt, both as regards to reputation and riches, he blames circumstances, not knowing that he is the sole author of his condition.

James Allen illustrates how the man who is unwilling to accept responsibility for his actions and to take right thought and action in the creation of his desired goal, rightly fails to reach his goal. To become fit for prosperity, the man must think, speak and act in congruence with the principles of prosperity, not in congruence with the principles of scarcity and lack. No one is responsible for the relative manifestation of prosperity but the man himself, through his thoughts, words and actions.
In what areas of your life have you blamed conditions outside of yourself? What can you do NOW to align yourself with the principles of prosperity in these areas of your life? How will your life change for the better as you take total responsibility for your part in enhancing these areas of your life?

Make Some Light!

In every work of genius we recognize our own rejected thoughts.

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Make Some Light!

Here is a rich man who is the victim of a painful and persistent disease as the result of gluttony. He is willing to give large sums of money to get rid of it, but he will not sacrifice his gluttonous desires. He wants to gratify his taste for rich and unnatural viands and have his health as well. Such a man is totally unfit to have health, because he has not yet learned the first principles of a healthy life.

James Allen here continues with his characterization of man and illustrates how his own choices and propensities rightly determine the state of his life. By holding two competing intentions, health and gluttony, he fails to reach the goal he states that he desires-a healthy life. Choices made in the inner world manifest in the outer world, revealing true intentions beyond our stated intentions.
In what areas in your life have you expressed an intention to change, and yet fell short of your stated intention? What does this reveal to you about the intentions held in the inner world of your mind?

Make Some Light!

Here is a man who is wretchedly poor. He is extremely anxious that his surroundings and home comforts should be improved, yet all the time he shirks his work, and considers he is justified in trying to deceive his employer on the ground of the insufficiency of his wages. Such a man does not understand the simplest rudiments of those principles which are the basis of true prosperity, and it is not only totally unfitted to rise out of his wretchedness, but is actually attracting to himself a still deeper wretchedness by dwelling in, and acting out, indolent, deceptive, and unmanly thoughts.

Here James Allen begins a characterization of man that illustrates how his own choices and propensities rightly determine the state of his life. In this case, a man whos victim thinking and avoidance of personal responsibility perpetuates the very wretchedness he thinks he desires to escape. But he cannot escape it, for it is a reflection of the man himself.

Are there areas of your life that you feel victimized by? To what degree is your thinking and behavior perpetuating your perceived victimization? What thoughts and feelings can you choose today to begin to break that cycle?

Make Some Light!

Small opportunities are often the beginning of great enterprises. - Demosthenes

Make Some Light!

Men are anxious to improve their circumstances, but are unwilling to improve themselves; they therefore remain bound. The man who does not shrink from self-crucifixion can never fail to accomplish the object upon which his heart is set. This is as true of earthly as of heavenly things. Even the man whose sole object is to acquire wealth must be prepared to make great personal sacrifices before he can accomplish his object; and how much more he who would realize a strong and well-poised life?

In this paragraph, James Allen helps us understand that to the extent we remain fixed in our thinking, to the extent that we cling to our victim story, we are tied fast to the cause of our results and choose to remain that way.

Are there areas of your life in which you feel bound hand and foot? If the cords you are bound with are the product of your habitual way of thinking, what new thought can you embrace to break them?

Make Some Light!

One man with courage makes a majority.

- Andrew Jackson

Make Some Light!

In the light of this truth, what, then, is the meaning of “fighting against circumstances?” It means that a man is continually revolting against an effect without, while all the time he is nourishing and preserving its cause in his heart.

Here James Allen illustrates a most powerful truth; trying to change the world around us is fruitless without changing the world within us.

Which circumstances around you would you like change? Which thoughts and feelings within yourself can you change today to alter your outer world?

Make Some Light!

Not what he wishes and prays for does a man get, but what he justly earns. His wishes and prayers are only gratified and answered when they harmonize with his thoughts and actions.

In this brief paragraph, James Allen stresses the idea that to get what we really want, our thoughts and actions must be in harmony with true desires. Wallace Wattles put it this way: "By thought, the thing you want is brought to you. By action, you receive it."

What actions can you take today that will move you one or two steps closer to your worthy ideal? What can you do today that will help you be, do, and have more of the vision you are creating of your ideal life?

Make Some Light!

To love what you do and feel that it matters - how could anything be more fun?

- Katherine Graham

Make Some Light!

Men do not attract that which they want, but that which they are. Their whims, fancies, and ambitions are thwarted at every step, but their inmost thoughts and desires are fed with their own food, be it foul or clean. The "divinity that shapes our ends" is in ourselves; it is our very self. Man is manacled only by himself: thought and action are the jailers of Fate - they imprison, being base; they are also the angels of Freedom - they liberate, being noble.

Here, James Allen teaches us that we have the power to shackle or liberate ourselves, and we do it by feeding our thoughts and feelings. To create and attract freedom, we must choose to be free, no matter what.

What do you really want to be? What decisions can you make today that will commit you to becoming that, no matter what?

Make Some Light!

You will become as small as your controlling desire; as great as your dominant aspiration.

- James Allen

Make Some Light!

A man does not come to the almshouse or the jail by the tyranny of fate or circumstance, but by the pathway of groveling thoughts and base desires. Nor does a pure-minded man fall suddenly into crime by stress of any mere external force; the criminal thought had long been secretly fostered in the heart, and the hour of opportunity revealed its gathering power. Circumstance does not make the man; it reveals him to himself. No such conditions can exist as descending into vice and its attendant sufferings apart from vicious inclinations; or ascending into virtue and its pure happiness without the continued cultivation of virtuous aspirations; and man, therefore, as the lord and master of thought, is the maker of himself, the shaper and author of environment. Even at birth the soul comes to its own, and through every step of its earthly pilgrimage it attracts those combinations of conditions which reveal itself, which are the reflections of its own purity and impurity, its strength and weakness.

In this paragraph, James Allen helps us to understand that the bondage or paradise of our lives always begins within us before it is experienced all around us.

What do you want to experience in your life? How do the thoughts of that vision make you feel? How do the thoughts and feelings of that vision make you want to behave differently today?

Make Some Light!

Following the inmost desires, aspirations, thoughts, by which he allows himself to be dominated (pursuing the will-o-the-wisps of impure imagining or steadfastly walking the highway of strong and high endeavor), a man at last arrives at their fruition and fulfillment in the outer condition of his life.

The laws of growth and adjustment everywhere obtain.

James Allen here suggests that we each ultimately arrive at the destination we have pursued with our thoughts, desires, and aspirations. Where we eventually arrive completely depends on what we choose to focus on or be distracted by.

What is your unique mission or worthy ideal in life? What concrete steps can you take towards it today? Which distractions from it can you choose to eliminate from your life today?

Make Some Light!

Many receive advice, only the wise profit from it.
- Syrus

Make Some Light!

The outer world of circumstances shapes itself to the inner world of thought, and both pleasant and unpleasant external conditions are factors which make for the ultimate good of the individual. As the reaper of his own harvest, man learns both by suffering and bliss.

Here James Allen suggests that this is a friendly universe that has been created for our good and benefit. When we choose to be grateful for the harvest we reap from our thoughts, we can benefit and grow from whatever we have sown.

What lessons are waiting for you today in the circumstances of your life that are currently painful? Can you be grateful today for those lessons and learn from them? What can you do today to show additional gratitude for the joyful successes in your life?

Make Some Light!

Make no little plans; they have mo magic to stir men's blood and probably themselves will not be realized. Make big plans; aim high in hope and work, remembering that a noble, logical diagram once recorded will not die. - Daniel H. Burnham

Make Some Light!

The soul attracts that which it secretly harbors; that which it loves, and also that which it fears; it reaches the height of its cherished aspirations; it falls to the level of its unchastened desires; and circumstances are the means by which the soul receives its own.Every thought-seed sown or allowed to fall into the mind, and to take root there, produces its own, blossoming sooner or later into act, and bearing its own fruitage of opportunity and circumstances. Good thoughts bear good fruit, bad thoughts bad fruit.

Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?

In this paragraph, James Allen reiterates that our thoughts plant in us the seeds of our results, and by our actions we reap the harvest of the thought seeds we have planted and long cultivated. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

Which thoughts do you secretly harbor? Are they worthy of you, The Creator’s Child?

Make Some Light!

That circumstances grow out of thought every man knows who has for any length of time practiced self-control and self-purification, for he will have noticed that the alteration in his circumstances has been in exact ratio with his altered mental condition. So true is this that when a man earnestly applies himself to remedy the defects in his character, and makes swift and marked progress, he passes rapidly through a succession of vicissitudes.

Here, James Allen explains that our circumstances, and indeed our very characters grow out of the thoughts that we secretly harbor. Our characters will improve and our circumstances will change in exact proportion to the changes we make in our thinking.

Which thoughts that are faithful to you worthy ideal can you adopt today? Which thoughts that are fearful or unfaithful to it can you avoid and eliminate today?

MAKE SOME LIGHT!

You become what you think about.
- Earl Nightingale

Make Some Light!

Man is buffeted by circumstances so long as he believes himself to be the creature of outside conditions, but when he realizes that he is a creative power, and that he may command the hidden soil and seeds of his being out of which circumstances grow, then he becomes the rightful master of himself.

James Allen here teaches us that when we believe ourselves to be ruled by our circumstances, we allow ourselves to be. But once we understand that we are the creators of our circumstances, we begin to re-create them and truly rule ourselves.

Are your thoughts and feelings controlled by your circumstances? Which of them would you like to re-create first? How can you begin to use your powers of creation to remake the world around you?

Make Some Light!

Chance favors the prepared mind. - Louis Pasteur

Make Some Light!

As a progressive and evolving being, man is where he is that he may learn that he may grow; and as he learns the spiritual lesson which any circumstance contains for him, it passes away and gives place to other circumstances.

In this paragraph, James Allen helps us to understand there are no failures in life, only feedback. We will change the circumstances of our lives as quickly as we learn the lessons they contain for us, and we will repeat those circumstances until we do.

Are there areas of your life where you feel like you are experiencing the same painful circumstances over and over again? What are the hidden spiritual lessons in those circumstances? What can you learn from them so that you can change them and move on?

Make Some Light!

To believe in the things you can see and touch is no belief at all, but to believe in the unseen is a triumph and a blessing. – Abraham Lincoln




Make Some Light!

Liberty, when it begins to take root, is a plant of rapid growth. - George Washington

Happy Independence Day!

Make Some Light!

No problem can sustain the assault of sustained thinking – Voltaire


Make Some Light!

Every man is where he is by the law of his being; the thoughts which he has built into his character have brought him there, and in the arrangement of his life there is no element of chance, but all this is the result of a law which cannot err. This is just as true of those who feel “out of harmony” with their surroundings as those who are contented with them.

Here James Allen teaches us that there are laws of life and creation. When we are aware of the laws and choose to live by them, we grow in our ability to create the lives that we love. We prosper, by law. When we are unaware of the laws, then happiness and prosperity seem to be governed by chance and luck.

Which parts of your life feel like they are ruled by luck? Where can you learn the laws by which all of creation is governed? How can you begin, today, to live in harmony with the laws of creation?

Make Some Light!

Thought and character are one, and as character can only manifest and discover itself through environment and circumstance, the outer conditions of a person’s life will always be found to be harmoniously related to his inner state. This does not mean that a man’s circumstances at any given time are an indication of his entire character, but that those circumstances are so intimately connected with some vital thought-element within himself that, for the time being, they are indispensable to his development.

James Allen helps us understand here that the circumstances around us are always a reflection of the conditions inside us. Therefore, to change our outer world, we must change our inner world.

What steps can you take today to begin to build and improve your inner character? Whom can you forgive? Begin with yourself. Then watch for the changes around you to occur.

Make Some Light!

It is a funny thing about life; if you refuse to accept anything but the best you very often get it. – Somerset Maugham

Make Some Light!

Just as a gardener cultivates his plot, keeping it free from weeds, and growing the flowers and fruits which he requires, so may a man tend the garden of his mind, weeding out all the wrong, useless, and impure thoughts, and cultivating toward perfection the flowers and fruits of right, useful, and pure thoughts. By pursuing this process, a man sooner or later discovers that he is the master-gardener of his soul, the director of his life. He also reveals, within himself, the laws of thought, and understands, with ever-increasing accuracy, how the thought-forces and mind-elements operate in the shaping of his character, circumstances, and destiny.

Here James Allen reminds us that we are the master-gardeners of our souls. We must discard thoughts that are fearful or unfaithful to the vision of our worth ideal, and we should nurture with great care the thoughts that are faithful to it.

Which thoughts and thought patterns that are unworthy of you and your vision could you disrupt and discard today? What are some thoughts that are faithful to your vision that you could replace them with?

Make Some Light!

Do the thing, and you will get the energy to do the thing.

– Ralph Waldo Emerson

Make Some Light!

A man’s mind may be likened to a garden, which may be intelligently cultivated or allowed to run wild; but whether cultivated or neglected, it must, and will, bring forth. If no useful seeds are put into it, then an abundance of useless weed-seed will fall therein, and will continue to produce their kind.

In this paragraph, James Allen provides the inspiration for “The Seedling” itself with the idea that we must choose the seeds we plant and cultivate in our minds or receive whatever weed thoughts find their way into us by default. Ultimately though, the abundant power of our minds will create our lives.

What thoughts can you choose to plant and cultivate today to intentionally create the life you really love?

Make Some Light!

Only by much searching and mining are gold and diamonds obtained, and man can find every truth connected with his being if he will dig deep into the mine of his soul; and that he is the maker of his character, the molder of his life, and the builder of his destiny, he may unerringly prove, if he will watch, control, and alter his thoughts, tracing their effects upon himself, upon others, and upon his life and circumstances, linking cause and effect by patient practice and investigation, and utilizing his every experience, even to the most trivial, every-day occurrence, as a means of obtaining that knowledge of himself which is Understanding, Wisdom, Power. In this direction, as in no other, is the law absolute that “He that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened”; for only by patience, practice, and ceaseless importunity can a man enter the Door of the Temple of Knowledge.

Here James Allen makes clear that you are the gold mine. You are the cavern filled with rough diamonds waiting to be unearthed. It may require considerable effort to find, develop, and reveal the true gems of your own hidden value. But really, this is the purpose for which you were created, and you have the power to bless the earth with what is inside you.

What talents have you been blessed with? What decision can you make today that will help you to develop and begin to reveal that hidden gem in you?

Make Some Light!

Mind is the master power that molds and makes
And man is mind, and evermore 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

Make Some Light!

Man is always the master, even in his weakest and most abandoned state; but in his weakness and degradation he is the foolish master who misgoverns his household. When he begins to reflect upon his condition, and to search diligently for the Law upon which his being is established, he then becomes the wise master, directing his energies with intelligence, and fashioning his thoughts to fruitful issues. Such is the conscious master, and man can only thus become by discovering within himself the laws of thought; which discovery is totally a matter of application, self-analysis, and experience.

In this paragraph from As a Man Thinketh, James Allen helps us to understand that each of us is truly in the driver’s seat of our lives. Our hands are each on our own steering wheel, and that steering wheel is our thoughts. When we fully comprehend that no one can think for us, we see that we cannot delegate our responsibility for our results. But once we get this, we can begin to steer much better, in the direction that we intentionally choose.

What do you want to create with your life? What new direction can you begin to take to get there?

Make Some Light!

The quality of a person’s life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor. – Vincent T. Lombardi

Make Some Light!

As a being of Power, Intelligence and Love, and the Lord of his own thoughts, man holds the key to every situation, and contains within himself that transforming and regenerative agency by which he may make himself what he wills.

Here James Allen helps us remember that there is a power within us that has the ability to unlock any situation we may find ourselves in. Any circumstance, any problem, and difficulty can be transformed and re-created for our good. All it takes is a new idea. Each of us has the power to regenerate our lives into something we really love.

What do you really love? What ideas can you come up with to begin to create more of what you love?

Make Some Light!

Of all the beautiful truths pertaining to the soul which have been restored and brought to light in this age, none is more gladdening or fruitful of divine promise and confidence than this-that man is the master of thought, the molder of character, and the maker and shaper of condition, environment, and destiny.

James Allen here reminds us that we are full of divine promise. We can become like our creator. We begin to grow towards this worthy ideal by seeing and seizing responsibility for our own thoughts and feelings, and using those God-like creative powers to purposefully shape our character, conditions, environment, and destiny.

What are you experiencing right now that you can change for the better by purposefully taking responsibility for your thoughts and feelings?

Make Some Light!

If you plan on being anything less than you are capable of being, you will probably be unhappy all the days of your life.

- Abraham Maslow

Make Some Light!

Man is a growth by law, and not a creation by artifice, and cause and effect is as absolute and undeviating in the hidden realm of thought as in the world of visible and material things. A noble and Godlike character is not a thing of favor or chance, but is the natural result of continued effort in right thinking, the effect of long-cherished association with Godlike thoughts. An ignoble character, by the same process, is the result of the continued harboring of groveling thoughts.

In this life, we rise no higher or sink no deeper than the most dominating desires of our hearts. That is the law. In this paragraph, James Allen helps us understand that we truly love, what we truly cherish determines who we ultimately become. We will either become more and more like God, or more and more unlike Him, depending on which thoughts we cherish, nurture, and grow with. Being a victim or being a hero is not a matter of chance or luck or talent or a sign of God's favor or displeasure. It is a matter of long-cherished choice, as a matter of law.

What do you really love? What can you do to focus on that today?

Make Some Light!

If you have caused pain and sorrow for yourself and others, repay these debts with Joy. Joy is the currency of the spirit.

- Ross Kellyn Moore

Make Some Light!

Thought in the mind hath made us.

What we are

By thought was wrought and built. If a man's mind

Hath evil thoughts, pain comes on him as comes

The wheel the ox behind. . .If one endure

In purity of thought, joy follows him

As his own shadow-sure.

In this poem, James Allen reminds us of the inevitable outcome of our thoughts. Really, there are ultimately only two choices-pain, or joy. The natural and even immediate result of evil thoughts is the pain felt by all victims and villains that live in the paradigm of scarcity. Gratefully enough though, joy is the natural, inevitable, and even immediate result a hero receives as a reward for choosing pure thoughts and living in abundance.

So which do you want today? Pain and victimhood, or heroism and joy? You get to choose today, and the result of today's choice is inevitable.

Make Some Light!

Act is the blossom of thought, and joy and suffering are its fruits; thus does a man garner in the sweet and bitter fruitage of his own husbandry.

Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?

Each of us has planted and nurtured the seeds of many different kinds of thoughts in our minds and hearts. These seeds are alive and inevitably grow, putting out shoots and tendrils, which root them into beliefs. Our own beliefs are sacred to us, and they are the basis for decisions we make and the actions we perform.

Which of your ideas and beliefs should you nourish more fully today, and which should you let whither with inattention? Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

Make Some Light!

Live your life each day as you would climb a mountain. An occasional glance towards the summit keeps the goal in mind, but many beautiful scenes are to be observed from each new vantage point.

Climb slowly, steadily, enjoying each passing moment; and the view from the summit will serve as a fitting climax for the journey.

-Harold V. Melchert