What are you thinking about?

For as he thinks in his heart, so is he. He says to you, “Eat and Drink! But his heart is not with you. Proverbs 23:7 (NLV)

 

            I can remember as a senior in high school, I didn’t have a desire to attend college, or enroll into a trade school; as a matter of fact, I didn’t have a desire for anything at the time. All I knew is what I heard from other people, which was, “If you want to be somebody, you have to get an education”.  Since getting a higher level of education was not on my agenda; according to what I had heard, I was a nobody. With the thought of being a nobody, I did what some of my peers chose at the time, which was enlisting into the Armed Service. I joined the Marine Corps and went to basic training and boy was I in for some shock treatment. Within minutes of arriving at boot camp, I was standing on some yellow footprints with about 35-40 other young men. We were herded into a building and ordered in a very diplomatic way to take off the clothing we came wearing and strip down to our birthday suit. Yeah right! There was nothing diplomatic about it; the Drill Instructors yelled, screamed, cursed and belittled each and every one of us. As I stood there naked looking at the clothing I came there wearing being put in a bag; it was like saying goodbye to whoever I thought I was and hello to a part of me I never knew. And hairstyles wasn’t an issue because every person received a 1-2 minute, deluxe baldhead; compliments of the barber who gave 40-50 of these haircuts a night. For the next three months of boot camp, I was broken down physically, emotionally and psychologically; in order to become one of “The few, the proud, The Marines”. Looking back at becoming a Marine, it started with the drill instructors rejecting my thoughts on who I thought I was and strongly motivating me to accept their thoughts of who they told me I am. So the whole transformation from a United States civilian to a United States Marine was simply a trading of thoughts. It wasn’t a trading of dollars, cars, popularity or favors; all it took was the trading of thoughts. I’ve come to the realization that thoughts control everything! For example; take a look around your living environment, whether it’s an apartment, cell block, house, dormitory or homeless shelter and what do you see? You may see people, furniture, a tv, particles of yesterday’s meal, pictures on the wall, carpet, tile and etc. If you look a little more intently you might notice windows, walls, a ceiling, blinds, different rooms and the overall structure of the building. Every item that I have listed, plus the ones you’ve noticed are children of someone’s thoughts. The structure of your home, whether it is a two level, bi-level or half a level was a thought birthed in the architect’s mind. The next time you walk around your living environment, take a moment and realize that you are literally walking in someone’s thought. The next time you pay your mortgage or rent, take a moment to understand that you are currently paying for someone’s Past Thought!  The thought of designing your home could have been completed 20 years ago and that same thought is still cashing in!