The power of thought

Everything is based on mind, is led by mind, is fashioned by mind. If you speak and act with a polluted mind, suffering will follow you, as the wheels of the oxcart follow the footsteps of the ox. Everything is based on mind, is led by mind, is fashioned by mind. If you speak and act with a pure mind, happiness will follow you, as a shadow clings to a form. Buddha

The brain is an amazing place. Filled with about 100 billion neurons, it has the equivalent star power of the universe. And in amongst all that star power is the power to think cognitively, to create, to imagine, to frame and re-frame, to picture any little idea into big picture thinking. To remember moments and forget pain. To capture faces and recall names. To create mountains out of molehills and cities out of dream castles in the air.

What we fill our brains with becomes our thinking. If I choose to believe I am stupid, I will believe I am stupid. If I choose to believe I can 'do it', I will set out to do it. It's all in my thinking. All in how I picture myself in the world.

Yesterday, my daughter Alexis took me on some errands. One of them included going to an art shop that regularly supplies the art studio at the shelter where I work with donations. Originally a wholesaler, Cathy has grown her Cactus Art Supplies into a major supplier of art materials and courses. Recently, she imagined setting up art studio space as well as teaching rooms in an adjoining bay to her existing space. In her thinking, she imagined an arts community growing up around her idea.

Yesterday, I saw her idea in its actuality. From little acorns mighty oaks grow.

As she toured Alexis and me around the new space, I was in awe of what she had accomplished. A room for sketching and drawing including a platform for a live model and 10 sketching horses. Another for flat surface painting. Another and another all suited out to different medium, all interchangeable. Four private studios with their own entrance as well as increased space for art supplies and materials. It was grand.

Wow, I said. You could become an accredited art school with this set-up.

Who knows what's possible now? she replied.

Good question. Who knows what's possible now once the dream is set in fact. Once the idea has taken form.

Anything is possible when the mind sets itself to it. Anything can become reality when we focus on a dream and start constructing substance beneath it.

Harriet Tubman, a runaway slave who once dreamt of abolishing slavery and who went on to lead hundreds to safety on the Underground Railway, once said, "Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world."

For Cathy, her dream comes at no small risk. She's invested her passion, her energy and her money in this endeavour. She believes in what she's doing. She's focused on her goal.

When we are clear what we want in our life will appear, and only to the degree that we are clear.

For Cathy, she is clear what she wants to create in her life. And, there's no mystery in what she's trying to build. An arts community where artists, professional and amateur, can come and learn and grow and experience dreams come true.

It was an inspiring visit. An opportunity to see how one thought can become of value to hundred's of people. To witness how one idea can become a brilliant star, shining brightly for all to see.

The question is: What are you filling your mind with? Ideas and thoughts on how you can make your dreams come true? Or, limiting beliefs on how it's just not possible to live your dream? It's your choice. Which will you choose today?