What Do You Think?

Centauri: Alex! Alex! You're walking away from history! History, Alex! Did Chris Columbus stay home? Nooooo. What if the Wright Brothers thought that only birds should fly? And did Galoka think that the Ulus were too ugly to save?
Alex Rogan: Who's Galoka?
Centauri: Never mind.
Alex Rogan: Listen, Centauri. I'm not any of those guys, I'm a kid from a trailer park.
Centauri: If that's what you think, then that's all you'll ever be!

The Last Starfighter



While this was a somewhat "cheesy" movie, I really enjoyed it. It was fun, action-packed and carried a good message. Alex always dreamed of doing more with his life. He dreamed of life beyond the little trailer park community he lived in. I mean, their idea of excitement was everyone turning out to watch Alex break the high score on the Starfighter video game. That was a real life accomplishment in their book. And while that was exciting for Alex in itself, he dreamed of doing something more significant. Little did he know just how significant an opportunity he would get.

Never let a big opportunity in life pass you by because you think it is too big for who you are. That is something even I struggle with. I dream big dreams but then struggle to think of myself as more than what I am. Be big in life by thinking big. I'm not just talking about riches and celebrity status. Be a great parent by thinking of yourself as a great parent. Raise a significant amount of money for a charitable organization by thinking yourself able to do so. Inspire a child to reach great heights of athletic, artistic or musical achievement by thinking yourself a great teacher and/or motivator. Think of yourself as being more ... and you will be.

Here are some more quotes on how thoughts influence your life:

For as (a man) thinketh in his heart, so is he.
-- Proverbs 23:7

A man is but the product of his thoughts. What he thinks, he becomes.
-- Mahatma Gandhi

A man sooner or later discovers that he is the master-gardener of his soul, the director of his life. -- James Allen

All that we are is the result of what we have thought. The mind is everything. What we think, we become.
-- Buddha

All that you accomplish or fail to accomplish with your life is the direct result of your thoughts.
-- James Allen

Build this day on a foundation of pleasant thoughts. Never fret at any imperfections that you fear may impede your progress. Remind yourself, as often as necessary, that you are a creature of God and have the power to achieve any dream by lifting up your thoughts. You can fly when you decide that you can. Never consider yourself defeated again. Let the vision in your heart be in your life's blueprint. Smile!
-- Og Mandino

Change your thoughts, and you change your world.
-- Norman Vincent Peale

Great thoughts reduced to practice become great acts.
-- William Hazlitt

I think and that is all that I am.
-- Wayne Dyer

If constructive thoughts are planted positive outcomes will be the result. Plant the seeds of failure and failure will follow.
-- Sidney Madwed

If you realized how powerful your thoughts are, you would never think a negative thought.
-- Peace Pilgrim

Life consists in what a person is thinking of all day.
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Man is made or unmade by himself. By the right choice he ascends. As a being of power, intelligence, and love, and the lord of his own thoughts, he holds the key to every situation.
-- James Allen

Nothing has any power over me other than that which I give it through my conscious thoughts.
-- Anthony Robbins

Nurture your mind with great thoughts, for you will never go any higher than you think.
-- Benjamin Disraeli

Our life is what our thoughts make it. A man will find that as he alters his thoughts toward things and other people, things and other people will alter towards him.
-- James Allen

Our minds become magnetized with the dominating thoughts we hold in our minds and these magnets attract to us the forces, the people, the circumstances of life which harmonize with the nature of our dominating thoughts.
-- Napoleon Hill

Our thoughts create our reality -- where we put our focus is the direction we tend to go.
-- Peter McWilliams

Self-discipline begins with the mastery of your thoughts. If you don't control what you think, you can't control what you do. Simply, self-discipline enables you to think first and act afterward.
-- Napoleon Hill

Some thoughts always find us young, and keep us so. Such a thought is the love of the universal and eternal beauty.
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson

The game of life is the game of boomerangs. Our thoughts, deeds and words return to us sooner or later, with astounding accuracy.
-- Florence Shinn

The human mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions.
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes

The more clear and definite you make your picture then, and the more you dwell upon it, bringing out all its delightful details, the stronger your desire will be, and the stronger your desire, the easier it will be to hold your mind fixed upon the picture of what you want.
-- Wallace D. Wattles

There is a basic law that like attracts like. Negative thinking definitely attracts negative results. Conversely, if a person habitually thinks optimistically and hopefully his positive thinking sets in motion creative forces - and success instead of eluding him flows toward him.
-- Norman Vincent Peale

Think twice before you speak, because your words and influence will plant the seed of either success or failure in the mind of another.
-- Napoleon Hill

Thought is the sculptor who can create the person you want to be.
-- Henry David Thoreau

To find yourself, think for yourself.
-- Socrates

To put away aimlessness and weakness, and to begin to think with purpose, is to enter the ranks of those strong ones who only recognize failure as one of the pathways to attainment; who make all conditions serve them, and who think strongly, attempt fearlessly, and accomplish masterfully.
-- James Allen

We are formed and molded by our thoughts. Those whose minds are shaped by selfless thoughts give joy when they speak or act. Joy follows them like a shadow that never leaves them.
-- Buddha

We are what we think. All that we are arises With our thoughts. With our thoughts, We make our world.
-- Buddha

What is the hardest thing in the world? To think.
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson

What we are today comes from our thoughts of yesterday, and our present thoughts build our life of tomorrow: Our life is the creation of our mind.
-- Buddha

What your heart thinks is great, is great. The soul's emphasis is always right.
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Watch your thoughts, for they become words.
Watch your words, for they become actions.
Watch your actions, for they become habits.
Watch your habits, for they become character.
Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.
-- Author Unknown

When you are inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary project, all your thoughts break their bonds: Your mind transcends limitations, your consciousness expands in every direction, and you find yourself in a new, great, and wonderful world. Dormant forces, faculties and talents become alive, and your discover yourself to be a greater person by far than you ever dreamed yourself to be.
-- Patanjali

You are today where your thoughts have brought you; you will be tomorrow where your thoughts take you.
-- James Allen

(I have the distinct honor of having a portion of this entry being quoted by Dr. Laura Markham as today's Quote of the Day at YourParentingSolutions.com.)