You’re the Product of your own Thinking
By Leopold Llonch
I enjoy rising early in the morning while everyone else is still asleep. It’s my quiet time to complete my morning rituals and I read, think, and write, but not always in that order.
Reading is important because it opens up worlds to you that you weren’t aware of. When you read a good book and you think about and visualize what the words are saying, there is almost always an application that can make a difference in your life.
If you don’t have the habit of reading, start reading just twenty minutes each day. After a few weeks you’ll want to have more time to read.
When my girls were small, one of the stories we enjoyed reading together was “The Little Engine that Could”. It’s a classic among parents with young children and it contains several morals. The one I enjoy most is about believing in yourself.
The story begins with a large collection of toys that have to be delivered by train to children on the other side of a big mountain. At first, the Little Engine looked up at the steep climb and doubted itself. But after looking at the toys and thinking of the children who needed them, it realized how important the task was and began the steep climb up.
As the climb up the tracks became more difficult, the Little Engine kept thinking about those children and said “I think I can, I think I can”. What the Little Engine was really saying is “Yes, I can and I will” and successfully delivered the toys to the children.
Here is another version of the same moral but in an inspirational poem:
“The Man Who Thinks He Can”
By Walter D. Wintle
If you think you are beaten, you are;
If you think you dare not, you don't.
If you'd like to win, but think you can't
It's almost a cinch you won't.
If you think you'll lose, you've lost.
For out in the world we find
Success begins with a fellow's will:
It's all in his state of mind.
If you think you're outclassed, you are:
You've got to think high to rise,
You've got to be sure of yourself before
You'll ever win a prize.
Life's battles don't always go
To the stronger or faster man,
But sooner or later the man who wins
Is the one who thinks he can.
Remember when you read stories or poems referring to boys or men, that girls and women have just as much potential.
My takeaway from these two examples is that you have so much potential and you’re capable of achieving more than you believe. Your limitations are perceived limitations, and not what you are actually capable of achieving.
You are not on this planet to live a weak, or passive, or negative life.
You’re here to grow, to thrive, and to achieve great deeds and to be a shining example for others to follow.
Marianne Williamson, an American author, writes her poem “Your Playing Small Doesn’t Serve the World” says “As you let your light shine, you give others permission to do the same”.
Let your light shine today.
Leopold Llonch