Have you ever had the experience of hearing someone say something and it’s as if you received a revelation?  That recently happened to me.  I was having a conversation with someone and he said, “You can’t think your way into a new way of living; but you can live your way into a new way of thinking.”

Those words penetrated my heart and mind, and they have stayed with me ever since.  I’ve thought about those words almost daily over the last few weeks, and I’ve used those words in my conversations with others.

There is truth and power in those words, but the experience of the truth and power come in putting those words into practice.  How often are we tempted to buy into the “just-think-positive-thoughts” message?  Certainly there’s something to be said for positive thinking; but positive living is much more powerful…and life-changing.  Once we choose positive living, then positive thinking will follow.  I know this might be contrary to what you’ve believed, but my only suggestion is that you should try it.

Another friend recently told me that problems of the mind can’t be solved by the mind.  So many of our problems in life stem from the way we think.  And so we can’t solve our problems by thinking more.  The only way to experience true freedom and peace in our lives is by living the virtues.  It’s one thing to think about the virtues; it’s another thing to live them.

The liberating power of the virtues is experienced in living them.  If a person is struggling with hate, then that person must choose to love; it’s then that loving thoughts will follow.  If a person is unjust, then that person must be just in their dealings with others; it’s then that just thoughts will follow.  If a person is unchaste, then that person must choose to be chaste in their relationships; it’s then that chaste thoughts will follow.

How can we grow in living the virtues?  It begins by choosing to live prayerfully.  The more we choose to pray, the more we desire to pray.  By staying united to the Lord, we stay in union with the source of holiness.

So begin today.  Think about an area of your life that needs to change, and then make little decisions today to grow in that area.  Maybe you need to be more patient.  So, when you’re in traffic today or in line at the store or the bank, wherever you find your patience being tested, choose patience.  In time, the more you choose the virtue, your thinking will eventually change. And what a liberating change it is!

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