That's What I Thought

THE aphorism, "As a man thinketh in his heart so is he," not only embraces the whole of a man's being, but is so comprehensive as to reach out to every condition and circumstance of his life. A man is literally what he thinks, his character being the complete sum of all his thoughts.

As the plant springs from, and could not be without, the seed, so every act of a man springs from the hidden seeds of thought, and could not have appeared without them. This applies equally to those acts called "spontaneous" and "unpremeditated" as to those, which are deliberately executed. -- James Allen, As A Man Thinketh

As A Man Thinketh is one of my most favorite books. Just about every paragraph could stand on its own as an inspirational or through-provoking quote. It explains, in detail, the power of thought.

I do believe that what we allow into our minds via what we see, read, or listen to can have an affect on our thoughts (positive or negative), and affect our actions accordingly.

Today, I deleted my MySpace account because I felt I was being exposed to things that had the potential to negatively affect my thoughts. To me, the concept of MySpace is a great idea. How it has been applied is the thing with which I take issue. There appears to be an inordinate amount of crude, vulgar, suggestive, vile, and otherwise filthy content on MySpace. I think I was able to avoid most of it, but it still seemed to seep in at times.

If I continue to allow that kind of filth into my soul, I don't think much good will come of it.

Even many of the advertisements had content of the aforementioned varieties. I came to the realization that this kind of material is not what I want to see every day, and while it was great to be able to keep in touch with friends (recent and long lost), I just couldn't justify using it any longer.

I have a beautiful 4 month old boy, and I realized that I would never permit him to use MySpace. If it's not good enough for him, then it's not good enough for me.

I can continue to keep in touch with my friends via good ol' E-Mail, and thus avoid the possibility of seeing, reading, or hearing something I'd much rather not.