Chapter 2
The Thought Chain
Science has shown that thoughts are electrical vibrations and that they have power. They are a source of energy that lead to feelings and actions. They can make us happy or sad. Thoughts create beliefs and habits that strongly influence all our choices in life, which ultimately create our destiny.
Something as simple as a thought is actually amongst the most important ingredients of our life. James Allen, acclaimed to be the founder of Positive Thinking, wrote, “As a man thinketh, so is he.” Norman Vincent Peale, known as the Father of Positive Thinking, elaborated on the power of Positive Thinking and its impact on human life. He said, “When I get up in the morning, I have two choices – either to be happy or unhappy, and what do you think I do? I just choose to be happy, and that's all there is to it.” Henry Ford said, “Whether you think you can or can't, you are right.” Many successful people have, through a study of their experiences, vouched for the amazing potential and the power of thought.
Is there any doubt about the power of thought? Ask someone who has used creative thinking, intuition and imagination to create dreams. I have done it, and these inspirational thoughts have not just created my dreams but have also pushed them into becoming a reality. Not just once, but every time a creative thought has crystallized into a powerful dream, success followed.
While there is no doubt about the power of thought and its connection with feelings, actions, habits, character and destiny, one must understand the role of thought in the Thought Chain before one can take charge of their own thought and life. As we grew up, we may have pondered over things like what came first - the chicken or the egg. But we may not have bothered to study the chain that rules our life. We know that there is a connection between thought, feelings and actions. But what creates thought? What controls our feelings? What leads us to act? Where does this chain start from and where does it end? If only we discover the source of this chain or the “life chain,” so to speak, we could take charge of our destiny by controlling our thought!
The Thought Chain
The Thought Chain begins with a thought that leads to feelings. If the mind thinks of a happy thought, we feel happy. In the Thought Chain, therefore, feelings follow thought. Some people however question this. In their view, while a happy thought may lead to a happy feeling, they believe that a happy feeling creates a happy thought, and hence, feelings don't follow a thought, but precede it.
While their argument is correct, a simple logic puts thoughts before feelings in the Thought Chain. This logic pertains to the nature of thoughts, that is, if there were no thoughts in the mind, there would be no feelings. Thus, all feelings are created by the electrical vibrations produced by thoughts. Science has also shown that failure in the functioning of the mind directly results in the absence of the corresponding feelings. Thus, while feelings do influence thoughts, the rightful link in the Thought Chain is that of thoughts preceding feelings.
Just as thoughts produce feelings, what do feelings produce? Feelings produce actions. Ahappy thought leads to a happy feeling, which in turn leads to happy actions. The Thought Chain has three links in it so far. Again, some people are of the opinion that actions lead to feelings. Some philosophers have prescribed that if you want to feel happy, you should act happy. They are absolutely right because, if you dance, this happy action will make you feel happier.
However, while this is true, I believe actions follow and not precede feelings in the Thought Chain. This is because if there are no feelings, there would be no actions. Just imagine, is it possible for you to dance joyously without actually feeling like dancing from within? Certainly not! Thus, feelings lead to actions.
We now have thoughts, feelings and actions in the Thought Chain. The next link is habit. Repeated actions create habits and this forms the fourth link in the Thought Chain. While most people agree, a few have a different but valid argument: Aren't habits responsible for creating actions? If one had the habit of becoming angry, then one's actions would be full of anger. Therefore, should not habits precede actions in the Thought Chain? Before delving into this further, we need to know where habits come from? None of us is born with habits. Our repeated actions result in forming habits. Thus, while habits do influence actions, habits are actually formed from actions, and they follow actions in the Thought Chain.
The Thought Chain now has thoughts, feelings, actions and habits. The next link in the chain is character. Repeated habits build our character. While an individual's character may create habits, it is actually habits that form one's character in the first place; therefore, in its rightful order, character follows habits in the Thought Chain.
Finally, the last link in the Thought Chain is our destiny or life. Are we born with a predestined life or is our life in our hands? Philosophically, we may have several answers for this. But practically, we all know that we create our own destiny. Therefore, the important question is “does our destiny create our character or does our character lead us to our destiny?” If you read the autobiographies of great men and women in the world, you will discover that many of them were born in ordinary families. Some did not receive any formal education, yet they worked their way to the top and became successful. They weren't born successful, but something made them successful. Their success didn't happen entirely by chance. It was more a result of their hard work and the choices they made. More importantly, it was their actions, habits and character that led them to their destiny.
We now have a clear picture of the Thought Chain. Thoughts create feelings, feelings create actions, actions create habits, habits create character, and character leads us to our destiny or life. Therefore, to take charge of our destiny and life, we need to take charge of our thought. But the big question is, how can one take charge of their own thought? The next chapter provides an answer to this question by revealing the raw material that manufactures thought.
