In his letter to the Philippians cited above, we saw that the apostle Paul provides a list of things that should be the subject of their thoughts.

“Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” Philippians 4:8

This verse shows that, unlike animals and plants, human beings are creatures endowed with the ability to choose what they think about. If we have the power to choose our thoughts and the nature of our thoughts determines the quality of our lives, we should place great importance on the choice of our thoughts. If we do not take the time to choose them consciously, someone else will do it for us.

Exceptional people choose their thoughts themselves with great care. They do not let anyone choose for them, because no one can better preserve their interests than themselves. When I give personal development training, I often tell students that no one has the power to offend them. No one can make them angry or irritate them in any way. Every time I make these statements, several students show through their faces that they do not completely agree. It is then that I explain to them that the act or acts that are likely to make us angry are actually just neutral facts.

When someone bumps into me and I think it’s a game, I am happy. But if I choose to think that this bump was meant to make me fall and hurt me, then it is very likely that I will feel irritated and even get angry. This example demonstrates that our emotions do not depend on what is done to us or not done to us. Our emotions depend on how we think or interpret what has been done to us.

We know the story of the man who got on the subway one day with his two little boys who began to run down all the aisles making a lot of noise and climbing on the seats. The children’s behavior and the father’s inaction began to irritate most of the passengers. As the irritation turned to anger, one of the passengers decided to go and remind the children’s father of his responsibility.

The man apologized and told his interlocutor that his wife, the mother of these two boys, had just died and that he did not yet know how to break this news to the children. Once the passengers learned that the man and his children had just lost a loved one, the irritation and anger immediately gave way to compassion. From that moment on, the disorder that the children were causing on the subway no longer bothered anyone.

The nature of the emotion changed, not because the facts changed, but simply because the way of thinking or perceiving changed. This is the truth that Jesus reveals to us when he explains that the eye is the lamp of the body.

“The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light; but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!” Matthew 6:22 (…)

This text is an excerpt from the book “THE MENTALITY OF EXCEPTIONAL PEOPLE” written by Dominique MBOG.

We invite you to read the following article “Pray for More Obstacles and to Be Strong.”