I was sitting along the creek, alone with my thoughts and the
harmony that only the sound of running water can bring. The
autumn chill was in the air, and the rustle of the breeze through
the leaves added to the symphony of serenity.

 
A young woman was reading a book on my left, and an elderly
gentleman was practicing Tai Chi about 30 feet away. A Suzuki
motorcycle pulled up and parked at the edge of the street. The
rider was dressed all in black leather, and had the look of a
courier. He dismounted, removed a brown sack from his cargo box,
and sat about 20 feet away from me. I spied him as he removed a
cold chicken drumstick and some kind of sandwich, which he ate and
chased with a bottle of Sprite.

 
It’s October, in the south end of Dublin, Ireland, and I’m on the
banks of the canal that runs under Baggot Street. I chose to
spend my lunch here, instead of at the five-star hotel where I am
staying. Pigeons are strutting around me, and a young man is
lying with his head nestled in the lap of his girlfriend. I
didn’t ask them, but I’ll bet the other patrons in my creek-side
café would agree that there isn’t a restaurant in town that can
rival the dining experience here.

 
Now the food at my hotel is great, but Ireland suffers from the
same disease as the U.K. Namely that they think all restaurants
should be gloomy caves, with dark mahogany wood and plenty of
smoke. You’ll find more windows in a submarine, than inside the
average restaurant here.

 
So why am I at the canal, other than for obvious reasons?

 
I’m choosing the thoughts that create my circumstances-and the
circumstances that will shape my life.

 
Take a trip to any jail or prison and you will meet hundreds of
people who will tell you they are the victims of circumstances.
Enter any big city ghetto or barrio and you’ll see the same thing.

 
If you venture through some affluent, high-class WASP neighborhood
in Connecticut, you discover the same thing. Likewise if you
stroll through a middle-class neighborhood in London or Leeds,
Cologne or Copenhagen. You will meet people who believe they are
the result of their circumstances, good or bad.

 
They will talk about the opportunities they were given, or the
chances they were denied. They may be grateful for the education
they were exposed to, or bemoan the fact they were denied one.
One person will celebrate his upbringing, while another will decry
hers.

 
Yes. Income, status, caste, education, upbringing, neighborhood,
family and many other circumstances will influence, effect and
even determine your station in life.

 
But who creates the circumstances?

 
Your parents? Your environment? God? Destiny? Lost in all this
analysis and the assumptions of the people above is one very, very
important reality.

 
The effect of thought on circumstance.

 
In “As A Man Thinketh,” James Allen tells us that our minds are
like a garden, which can be intelligently cultivated, or allowed
to run wild. In either event, it will bring forth.

 
If you plant and tend your garden, it will produce flowers or
fruits, the things you cultivate. If you don’t plant specific
seeds, then animals, wind and other elements will cause random
things to fall into it, producing an abundance of weeds and wild
vegetation, likely to choke out useful plants. One thing is
certain. Something will grow in your garden.

 
Just as a gardener must tend his or her plot, keeping out the
weeds, you must tend the garden of your mind, weeding out the
thoughts of lack, limitation and negativity. You must nurture and
tend the thoughts of happiness, success and purpose.

 
If you practice gardening of this kind, you will soon discover
that you are the master gardener of your soul. You will come to
the profound revelation that you are not the victim of your
circumstances-but the architect of them. For it is the thoughts
that you give precedence to that shape your character, create your
circumstances, and determine your ultimate destiny.

 
Please read that last sentence again.

 
The outer circumstances and environment of your life are directly
connected to your inner state. The most important thing you can
learn about success, prosperity and happiness is that thought and
character are one.

 
No one wakes up one day in prison, or divorce court, or the
emergency room. It is the direct result of the thoughts you have
had up to that point.

 
Now if you are like most people, this is the part where you start
to mentally make excuses for yourself . . .

 
You believe that what I just said is true for other people most of
the time, but you are quite certain that you have been the victim
of extenuating circumstances beyond your control.

 
I know. Your situation is different. You’re special…

 
OK you’re allowed to think that. For a while. But let me tell
you about me.

 
Because my situation was different. I was special…

 
I was in at least eleven negative, dysfunctional relationships
because my partners were neurotic, excessively jealous and needy.
They were always making demands on me because they couldn’t meet
their own needs.

 
In the first restaurant I owned, the guy I hired to run it was
falsifying the sales figures and keeping 80% of the sales. This
went on for almost four months before we caught him, long enough
to put me out of business.

 
In the hair salon I bought, my partner actually stole the fixtures
one weekend and sold them. The tax authorities seized the
pizzeria I had.

 
In each case, I was just the innocent victim, manipulated and
injured by others, always fighting against the circumstances, bad
luck, etc.

 
Bull!

 

I chose those relationships; I hired that manager; I attracted my
business partners, like I chose to start a business without enough
capital and didn’t pay my taxes.

 
You don’t simply end up in jail or the hospital, bankrupt, or
alone. No more than you simply wake up rich, successful, happy,
and healthy. All these circumstances are the result of thousands
of little decisions, which are reached as a result of hundreds of
thousands of thoughts. The thoughts you give precedence to.

 
So just how does that work?

 
Well it pains me to even talk about it. It pains me because of
the pain I see in people that I love. And it reminds me of the
pain I used to have. And I hate to even think about that. But
talk I must . . .

 
Some of you have heard the story I tell on my “Prosperity” audio
album about the wake-up call I got one day in California. I had
just had dinner with Spence and Shivani, a couple I respected a
great deal. I had spent the meal doing what I always did at that
time. I regaled them with all the bad breaks, poor luck, and
unfortunate circumstances that had been happening to me.
Afterward, as we were getting into their car, Spence said to me,
“Have you given any thought to what you’re doing to manifest all
this?”
Well I was simply devastated. I couldn’t believe how insensitive,
uncaring, and clueless he was! I couldn’t believe that he didn’t
understand and empathize with what an innocent victim I was.

 
I chewed on that for about three weeks before it finally dawned on
me that Spence was right. And that’s a very ugly realization to
have.

 
But a very liberating one. Because once you get it-and you take
ultimate responsibility for what is happening in your life-you
start to think about how that really comes about.

 
I just got an email from someone two days ago. She has been
struggling financially for quite some time. She has major health
challenges, relationship issues, and some other drama going on.
Now she writes to tell me that she was just in a serious car
accident.

 
Another old friend of mine is struggling financially. He has for
the last five years I’ve known him, but this time, he just got
laid off.

 
I’m quite sure that you know people in similar kinds of patterns.
It wrenches your heart, but sometimes you have to step back and
let them alone. The people I have talked about, I care about.
But I can’t help them yet. Because they don’t understand this
connection between thought and circumstance . . .

 
Sure I could send some money to the lady with the car accident. I
will throw some business to my other friend anonymously. But I’m
afraid these are just band-aids on a tumor. Because they will
always need another check and another chance, until they make the
connection we are talking about.

 
So let’s talk about how all this applies to you.

 
First, you really do have to accept that on one level or another,
you have manifested everything that is happening in your life.
Even the horrific, nasty stuff.

 
Of course you don’t do it consciously. But you do it.

 
I always believed that I wanted to be healthy. But I had allergy
problems, a bad back, and a lot of other challenges that kept me
sick. Most of them were hereditary. Or so I thought . . .

 
At that time, I had a hard time expressing love, and having it
expressed to me. I didn’t hug, say “I love you,” or other
expressions of emotion. I wasn’t psychologically able to, at that
point in my life.

 
After the string of dysfunctional relationships, I finally got
into therapy. It took me about three years, but I finally got to
the point where I could express and accept love. An amazing thing
happened . . .

 
My health problems all miraculously cleared up. I had been
holding on to sickness, because on a subconscious level, that is
how I believed you attracted loving attention. I didn’t realize
it then of course. But I know now, that is exactly what was
happening.

 
You can believe that you want to be successful, wealthy and
powerful. Yet on a subconscious level, you may have some serious
lack programming. So on this subconscious level, you may fear
that if you get rich and successful, your family and friends won’t
like you anymore, or you won’t fit in. So you could hold yourself
back, and sabotage your own success.

 
Now here’s the thing . . .

 
If you become successful, wealthy and powerful-IT IS QUITE
POSSIBLE AND EVEN LIKELY that your family and friends won’t like
you any more, and you won’t fit in! At least that’s what happened
for me. But I was ok with that. Because I knew that my true
friends wouldn’t be bothered by my success, and would even
celebrate it.

 
And I knew that if I wanted to “fit in,” I needed to stay sick,
broke and stupid.

 
Which I wasn’t willing to do. So I changed a lot of things in my
life, most importantly, the thoughts I give precedence to.

 
Which is why I am here at Baggot Creek, instead of the smoky
restaurant at the Ballsridge Hotel. So where are you reading
this? And how have you spent your day so far?

 
* Chapter excerpt from “Prosperity Mind! How to Harness the Power
of Thought” by Randy Gage.

 

For more than 15 years, Randy Gage has been helping people transform self-limiting beliefs into self-fulfilling breakthroughs to achieve their dreams. Randy Gage is a modern day explorer in the field of body-mind development and personal growth. He is the author of the best-selling albums, Dynamic Development and Prosperity and director of www.BreakthroughU.com . For more resources visit http://www.prosperity-power-experience.info and www.randygage.com.

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