How do our thoughts shape our experiences?

There is a wonderful story that I wish I could give credit to from whomever I heard it.

A minister is preaching about the Law of Mind Action. With great passion, he preached that the very thoughts we hold in our minds become our reality. All during the sermon the pastor could not help but notice that a teenage boy was squirming in his seat while he preached. And the more the minister preached the more upset the young man became.

The minister could not wait to get the chance to talk to this young man and ask him what was up. When he did, the young, teenage boy said sheepishly, “Pastor, all I think about is girls these days. I don't want to be a girl!”

Perhaps you have heard the old cliché that whatever you can dream about you can become. I don't believe this either.

Creating our own Experience

There is a wonderful female singer at the church I attend. Now, I can dream and hold the thought with emotion that I am a beautiful, black woman singing as beautifully as this woman and it will never happen in the manifest realm. It will and does happen on the screen of my mind, but no matter how hard, how often, or how emotion-filled I hold that thought, I would never be a beautiful, black, female singer.

This key idea—that human beings create their experience by the activity of their thinking—is sometimes known as the Law of Mind action.

It is usually stated: “Thoughts held in mind produce after their kind.”

In some metaphysical circles it is believed and taught that whatever thoughts we hold in our minds, with feeling, will eventually “out-picture” into the manifest realm.

The bottom line for us as individuals is that the law of mind action (thoughts held in mind produce after their kind) certainly operates 100 percent of the time at the level of the mind. Whatever we think about with emotion will affect our mental state …

If we think sad thoughts, we experience sadness. If we think happy thoughts, we experience happiness. It is as simple as that! There is now proof that our minds are hardwired to our bodies; our thoughts produce chemicals in our body as a result of those thoughts.

Positive thoughts give rise to health supporting chemicals, while negative thoughts give rise to “harmful” chemicals.

Our thoughts can depress our immune system. So it is important to watch the thoughts we hold in our minds and change them when they do not reflect what we want to experience.

I have heard some say that once one achieves or fully realizes his or her Christ consciousness then the outer events and experiences of life will all be good, that life will be easy and wonderful. This stems from the misunderstanding of the Law of Mind Action. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Events do not cause feelings. It is how we perceive, view, and think about events or comments that give rise to feelings.

The Wisdom of the Universe

If this were true then Jesus, as the clearest expression of the Christ, would have proven this. Since Jesus clearly demonstrated the Christ and he had people hating him, plotting against him, and ultimately crucifying him, how then can we expect it to be any different for ourselves? …

Equally, it is important that we watch the words we speak for our words do have power. It is also important that we do not take this to superstitious, magical thinking extremes, laced with an unhealthy dose of fear. Many well-intentioned metaphysics students become overly fearful and vigilant about what they say.

The innate Wisdom of the universe is wise enough to “get it” when we are telling a joke or being ironic.

... Truthfully, I cannot say with 100 percent certainty that we do not in some way contribute to or cause all the events that happen in our lives. What I do know is that events happen.

Some of them I obviously cause; others, it appears, I had nothing to do with. I also know while I may not have control over all the events of my life, I certainly do have control over my experience of those events. My experience of an event has to do with the ideas, thoughts, beliefs, and attitudes I hold about the event rather than the event itself. Events do not directly cause my inner experience. This is really good news!

On any given day, you can hear more than one person say something like, “xyz caused me to feel abc.” Nothing could be further from the truth. Events do not cause feelings. It is how we perceive, view, and think about events or comments that give rise to feelings. Think about it.

If events actually caused feelings then the same event would cause the same feeling in every person that experienced the event. We know that not to be true. It is probably safe to say every person involved in an event had a distinct experience of the event depending on the thoughts, ideas, beliefs, and attitudes the person brought to the event …

Isn't it great to know that our inner experiences of outer events don't choose us but that we choose them?

Knowing this means we can always assume the point of Power and control over our lives that we have always had: the point of Power God is creating us to be.


Excerpt from Point of Power by Rev. Paul Hasselbeck.