Your Greatest Asset. What is it?

Have you ever wondered what is your greatest asset? Wonder no more. Your greatest asset is your thought of the moment. Of course, conversely, your greatest liability is also your thought of the moment.

Think about it. Because the difference in your thought of the moment being either an asset or a liability is entirely your free choice. Nobody can force you to think a negative or fearful thought. If a negative or fearful thought happens to pop up, as it does with everyone, you can decide immediately not to think it, and think instead, some other non-negative, objective or more cheerful thought.

And that means that our thought of the moment is not only our greatest asset or our greatest liability, it is also our greatest responsibility. Like all great responsibilities, our thought of the moment depends upon our acceptance of responsibility for that thought--our decision and willingness to be courageous and proactive, and our refusal to be dependent, passive and reactive

Why is our thought of the moment so important? As the old saying goes, "As a man thinketh so shall he be." That's because the brain always follows the direction of its most current dominant thought--current, as in thought of the moment. And we make any thought dominant by our on-purpose decision to concentrate upon it, to repetitively think it over and over. Some people wonder why they are depressed and fearful, and the only thought that is playing in their brain, over and over, repetitively, is how depressed and fearful they are. Why don't they reject these thoughts and think more productive ones? They can.

Why is the old saying true?That we are what we think? Because there is a chemical consequence in the brain for every single thought we think. If we think a pleasant, non-emotional, or objective thought, we activate the neural activity in our neo-cortex, the thinking part of the brain.

If we think an emotional, negative or fearful thought, we activate the neural activity in the subcortex, the emotional part of our brain. Emotional thoughts that are pleasant are no problem. However, emotional thoughts that are unpleasant or fearful can, sooner or later, cause a triggering of our fight or flight response, our psychological defense mechanism. That will dump stress chemicals in our brain and cause a chemical imbalance that can lead to stress, anxiety and depression.

It is our great freedom that we can, at any moment, choose whatever thought we want to think. We can proactively choose to think those thoughts which will lift us upon the wings of cheerfulness, goodwill and hopeful joy. Or, if we are not careful, we can passively slide into thinking thoughts that will, sooner or later, chain us into the bondage of stress, fear and depression. The poet Richard Lovelace wrote of this when he penned these lines from his prison cell in 1642.

Stone walls do not a prison make,
Nor iron bars a cage;,
Minds innocent and quiet take
That for an hermitage;
If I have freedom in my love
And in my soul am free,
Angels alone, that soar above,
Enjoy such liberty.

I wrote my own version of this which, though perhaps more user friendly, is probably not as profound as the the lines of great poet. But here it is anyway.

If you're thrown into prison,
Or a slave, sold and bought.
No force can prevent you
From a positive thought.

It is easy to dismiss our thought of the moment as being forced upon us by circumstances beyond our control. Some dismiss their own thinking as basically inconsequential. Others treat their brain and its thinking process as some mystery no one can solve. Almost like it's none of their business what they think. That they have no control over their thinking so why even mess with it. Too many people believe that thinking is just something that happens to them rather than something they should do on purpose, as an act of will, as a good habit.

But people who are wise do not forget the importance of the fact that we can think whatever thought we want, at any moment, on purpose, and that the thought we think is the only thing that decides our mood, our zest for life, our ability to fully engage with present reality, and our greatest possibility of connecting in a meaningful and loving way with our fellow man