I’m not sure who gets the credit for coining the original, but I hear it said often that “all action is born in thought.”   I’d like to believe it.   The problem I have is that I, personally, have cataloged innumerable instances where I have acted first and thought about it only after the fact.   My actions have given birth to thoughts (usually of regret or terror).   But I don’t want to miss the forest for the trees.   I embrace wholeheartedly the idea that what I am on the inside will ultimately manifest itself on the outside.   What I really think will, in fact, become clear and apparent by the things that I do or say and the attitudes that I display.

I’ve encountered people, as I am sure you have, who were feeling the effects of having had too much to drink or who had relinquished control of self to the power of a pill, or a powder or the contents of the syringe.   Often, in fact, almost always, those under the influence say things and do things that they might be otherwise disinclined to say or do.   We say, “It’s the alcohol talking.”   But I have never known alcohol or drugs to speak or act.   People speak and act.   What the substance does is unlock the vault of the heart and mind.   Sober, I’d never say those things or act like that. But when the key of the substance unlatches the lock on my mind and heart the contents spills out.

So, the mind is the arena of change.   When I change how I think about things, what follows naturally is a marked difference in activities and conversations and disposition.     All of us can think of things that we wish we could change about ourselves.   For instance, I wish that I was not nearly as heavy or out of shape as I am.   I wish that would change.   The truth is that it can change.   But only as I change my mind about food and exercise.  I must decide what foods I eat and how much, and when.   I must think about how active I am and how efficiently I use the food I consume to fuel an active style of living.   I can order diet plan after diet plan and purchase the gym membership but until I change my mind……   you get the idea.

So, as you think of change today, repeat this to yourself: “The inside matters most.”

God, let me change my mind about some things today.  And let your thoughts be my thoughts! May my inside matter most.