The power of an Ideal: reflections on James Allen's "As a man thinketh"

"Your circumstances may be uncongenial, but they shall not long remain so if you but perceive an Ideal and strive to reach it. You cannot travel within and stand still without. Here is a youth hard pressed by poverty and labor; confined long hours in an unhealthy workshop; unschooled, and lacking all the arts of refinement. But he dreams of better things. He thinks of intelligence, of refinement, of grace and beauty. He conceives of, mentally builds up, an ideal condition of life. The vision of the wider liberty and a larger scope takes possession of him; unrest urges him to action, and he utilizes all his spare time and means, small though they are, to the development of his latent powers and resources.

Very soon so altered has his mind become that the workshop can no longer hold him. It has become so out of harmony with his mentality that it falls out of his life as a garment is cast aside, and with the growth of opportunities which fit the scope of his expanding powers, he passes out of it forever."

"But he dreams of better things." When I read this statement, I saw myself standing in the uncongenial circumstances of a job I had a few years ago, a menial kitchen job, to which my talents, skills, and aesthetic abilities had absolutely no room to grow, but rather than disdainfully look at the job as a source of contempt, I began to dream of a better job, a better life, a better version of myself.

A funny thing happened. I began to "feel" more attuned to my true self, my true desires, my true ambitions, which energized me and made me feel empowered to aspire to these dreams. Now mind you I still had to work that crummy job in the soil of sacrifice, but the seeds of those dreams were being planted into my soul, and at every chance I got, I would water them.

The accumulation of energy and focus starts in the mind, but we also must allow action to correspond in direct alignment with our thoughts. Years ago when I was a young prodigal I would waste my time pursuing frivolity. I did not realize that I was wasting my life, till I realized my creative potential wasn't blossoming. The teenage years of sleeping in, smoking weed, and irresponsibility definitely took it's toll on my psychological an emotional health, but that's where redemption comes in.

In Jesus I am regaining my sanity and sense of purpose. Through His life I am rediscovering the energizing dreams and ideals to which prompt me to be more self-controlled and disciplined. He calls us upward towards the high calling, and the path worth attaining to.

The humility of sacrifice is astounding. The more I work towards my true dreams ( recording music, making art, fostering community) the the more energized I feel. I do not believe in false humility anymore. I have an ideal, and a dream, and I am willing to sacrifice for it, and work towards it's purposeful aim. "As a man thinks in his heart, so is he...."