kaleidoscopes

I was given a book (no, more like a pamphlet) when I graduated called As A Man Thinketh from a family in my ward. I thought it was thoughtful, but definitely not my type of reading so I put it in a box and forgot about it. Over Christmas Break I was going through my boxes of old stuff and I found the pamphlet/mini book I was given two years earlier. Being the older and wiser person that I am, I decided to bring it back to school with me. Well, I didn't actually read it until last week when I got freaked out about going to Uganda and having no wisdom to impart to the people there. Naturally, I turned to a smart sounding book for my source of wisdom, As A Man Thinketh. Roommate aka bod laughed at me for my attempts, mostly because I decided to gain wisdom at 2 am. Then the next day in church someone randomly brought it up in sunday school, so random. BUT I really have learned a lot from this little book, there are some really really great thoughts in it...my favorite so far is this one:

The world is your kaleidoscope, and the varying combinations of colors which at every succeeding moment it presents to you are the exquisitely adjusted pictures of your ever-moving thoughts (pg 37)

Isn't that AWESOME? I LOVE it. The book is all about how your thoughts affect and create your circumstances and the importance of perspective and a good attitude. I love the idea that you have the ability to adjust your own kaleidoscope of the world. If you want the world to be gentle and pleasent, gentle and pleasant thoughts have to turn your kaleidoscope.

I could quote so many parts of the book, but I will just add one more that relates to the above mentioned attitude/perspective chat. "A man cannot directly choose his circumstances, but he can choose his thoughts, and so indirectly, yet surely, shape his circumstances..."

We choose our thoughts to shape our circumstances...the world is our kaleidoscope and we can always make it beautiful under our control