As a Man Thinketh
Assessment by Bidemi Abayomi-Daniel (Nigeria)
1. What is the main idea that the author is trying to convey in the book?
I would start by saying the ideas shared in this books are ageless/timeless truths that will remain ever relevant even in generations to come. Having read through the book a couple of times I would beg to say that the major musings of the author is how the thoughts of a person can shape individual aspects and even as a collective the whole of his/her life in entirety. He poses that thoughts are that powerful.
He points out that the mind is like a master potter who possesses the power to mould, make, create and even unmake/destroy that Man is indeed Mind, hence he’s the potter who has the capacity to take the tool of thought, and shaping what he wills, bings forth numerous joys, and indeed ills: “He thinks in secret, and it comes to pass: the environment being his inspiration, his looking-glass.”
However, If we are to become creators of circumstance, we need to face the fact that we are already creators of circumstance, realizing the fact that, all of our previous patterns of thinking have created the conditions of our life today.
We are today what we predominantly thought about yesterday.
We need to learn the art of thinking in a way that will produce us the desired result, it’s a secret that when learnt will make all the difference in our lives.
This secret is concentrated thought, and to move in faith, which brings the creative power from our heads to our hearts.
In summary the main point of the book is to suggest to Man that they are the makers of themselves. By virtue of the thoughts which they conjure and encourage they become weavers of both character and circumstances and just as they can weave in ignorance and pain, they may now weave in enlightenment and happiness.
2. What were the seven ideas which were personally most important to you and why? List these seven ideas followed by an explanation after each one as to why it was important to you. Use personal examples from your own life.
i. Thought and Character
“As a man thinketh in his heart so is he.” A person is literally what they think. The sum total of a person’s thoughts is what defines their character. Every act of a human being springs from the hidden seeds of thought, and could not have appeared without them. Those acts called “spontaneous” and “unpremeditated” can indeed still find their roots in past thoughts nursed by the individual, which are deliberately executed.
Thoughts are seeds that blossom into flowers or even trees, and joy and suffering are its fruits; just as the principle of cause and effect applies in the physical world, it also applies in the magnitude in the thought world. To be a person of noble and Godlike character one has to make continued efforts to choose to think right, think noble thougjts, think Godly thoughts, it doesn’t happen by chance, and the same happens for ignoble and bestial character, by the same process, it’s the result of the continued harbouring of grovelling thoughts. Man is able to generate for himself joy, peace and happiness by the power of his thoughts and vise versa. Man can in fact create his own destiny by his thoughts. I would add that those thoughts are made even more powerful when they are aligned with those of God his creator. As beings of Power, Intelligence, and Love, and the lord of his own thoughts, humans hold the key to every situation, and contains within themselves that transforming and regenerative agency by which they may make themselves what they will. God has given that much power to man.
ii. Effect Of Thought On Circumstances Man’s mind may be likened to a garden, which may be intelligently cultivated or allowed to run wild; but whether cultivated or neglected, it must, and will, bring forth.
If no useful seeds are put into it, then an abundance of useless weed-seeds will fall therein, and will continue to produce their kind. So if you want to see or have beautiful experiences then you must sow good seeds. As emphasized before those seeds are the thoughts that we choose to harbor. In my personal life I have seen this play out. One practical example is in my relationships, especially work relationships. I love a good, peaceful and cordial work relationship especially with my bosses and discovered that everytime I thought “This boss or colleague is wicked, mean or out to get me”, there most likely eventually will be more display of negativity from that person to me. So I learnt to counter with good thoughts about them, I even go further to pray out the good thoughts and be actually positive in my disposition towards them only to realize that the actions then become mutual. All starting with my thoughts I end up enjoying favors and peace at the work place. Thoughts are in actual fact powerful enough to turn circumstances in whatever directions we channel them to go.
The soul attracts that which it secretly harbors; that which it loves, and also that which it fears; it reaches the height of its cherished aspirations; it falls to the level of its unchastened desires and circumstances are the means by which the soul receives its own. Good thoughts bear good fruit, bad thoughts bad fruit. The outer world of circumstances sharpens itself to the inner world of thoughts. The circumstances that a man finds himself in have first been fostered in his thoughts. Circumstance does not make the man; it reveals him to himself.
iii. Effect Of Thought On Health And Body
The body is the servant of the mind. It obeys the operations of the mind, whether they be deliberately chosen or automatically expressed. At the bidding of unlawful thoughts the body sinks rapidly into disease and decay; at the command of glad and beautiful thoughts it becomes clothed with youthfulness and beauty. In my personal life this has played out to be true over and over again. I have overcome several symptoms just by ignoring the way they made me feel and choosing to think on how I want to feel in my body. Sometimes forgetting completely that I am in pain actually resulted in the pain going away without me even realizing at what exact time the pain disappeared. I have converted my thoughts of fear for growing old to thoughts of looking younger for my age and aging gracefully only to get compliments in that line consistently. The people who live in fear of disease are the people who get it. Change of diet will not help a man who will not change his thoughts. When a man makes his thoughts pure, he no longer desires impure food. If you would protect your body, guard your mind. If you would renew your body, beautify your mind. To think well of all, to be cheerful with all, to patiently learn to find the good in all such unselfish thoughts are the very portals of heaven; and to dwell day by day in thoughts of peace toward every creature will bring abounding peace to their possessor.
iv. Thought And Purpose
How do you accomplish anything intelligently? Simply by linking thought with purpose.
Petty worries, fears, troubles, and self-pityings, are all indications of weakness; they are derivatives of a lack of central purpose for ones life and definitely lead, to failure, unhappiness, and loss, for weakness cannot persist in a power evolving universe.
A man should conceive of a legitimate purpose in his heart, and set out to accomplish it.
He should make this purpose the focal point of his thoughts. He should make this purpose his top priority duty, and should devote himself to its fulfillment, not allowing his thoughts to wander away.Even if he fails again and again to accomplish his purpose (as he necessarily must to overcome weakness), the strength of character gained will be the measure of his true success, and this will form a new starting-point for future power and triumph. It is easy to overcome weak thoughts, all one meeds to do is exercising oneself in right thinking.
v. The Thought-Factor
In Achievement As recounted in the bible a group of people set their hearts/thoughts to building a tower so high it can reach heaven, God understanding the power of thought in achieving anything set on it, could only ensure their failure by scattering them through diverse languages….they spoke and thought differently. That’s the magnitude of power the thoughts possess as it relates to achievement of a set goal. All that a person achieves and all that person fails to achieve is the direct result thinking.
Those who have conquered weakness, and have put away all selfish thoughts, belong neither to oppressor nor oppressed. They are free. The higher man lifts his thoughts, the more manly, upright, and righteous he becomes, the greater will be his success, the more blessed and enduring will be his achievements. Intellectual achievements are the result of thought consecrated to the search for knowledge, or for the beautiful and true in life and nature.
Spiritual achievements are the consummation of holy aspirations. He who lives constantly in the conception of noble and lofty thoughts, who dwells upon all that is pure and unselfish, will, as surely as the sun reaches its zenith and the moon its full, become wise and noble in character, and rise into a position of influence and blessedness.
vi. Visions And Ideals
The dreamers are the saviors of the world. Cherish your visions; cherish your ideals; cherish the music that stirs in your heart, the beauty that forms in your mind, the loveliness that drapes your purest thoughts, for out of them will grow all delightful conditions, all, heavenly environment; of these, if you but remain true to them, your world will at last be built.
vii. Serenity
Calmness of mind is one of the beautiful jewels of wisdom. It is the result of long and patient effort in self-control. Its presence is an indication of ripened experience, and of a more than ordinary knowledge of the laws and operations of thought.
3. How will these ideas or lessons help you in a practical way, both in your daily personal life and in helping you to create a better world? If so, how?
These ideas have emphasized the power of thoughts in shaping my world; personally and the world around me. First, my thoughts can influence how my life turns out eventually.
They also make me aware that I can create, manage and channel my thoughts in such a way as to achieve desired results, to create the life I want. In my personal life I have used the power of thoughts to build an amiable character; I think to myself that I don’t want to be just sympathetic towards people but to always show Empathy so in my mind I play out scenarios that would better reflect Empathy in particular situations and choose to do that always instead.
Consistently thinking about being a better person has helped me be prepared to make good choices of response to other people’s actions. I like the person I have become by practicing this and will continue in my everyday life to use my thoughts to form good characters this will help me change the world around me one good act at a time.
Knowing that with my thoughts I can choose the circumstances that happen to me: change unfavorable ones and create favorable ones fills me with joy. To also be able to focus on my purpose by keeping them constantly in my thoughts, which not only helps me achieve them but also gives me serenity/calmness, which in totality makes me a better person who will add great value to the people and world around me.
4. Quotes: Are there any statements which the author made that particularly got your attention? If so, please quote them and comment as to why they were important to you.
There are so many impactful quotes spread across this book but I will only make reference to a couple here:
“He who would accomplish little must sacrifice little; he who would achieve much must sacrifice much; he who would attain highly must sacrifice greatly.”
This quote is very important toe because on reading it I seem to have identified it as the reason why I am where I am today and an injunction for where I want to be; to achieve much and attain highly in life. I need to sacrifice much, and greatly. I don’t have to read this book, I don’t even necessarily have to write this assessment but I do it because to attain high I need to pay the sacrifice of reading long hours, learning and identifying how to apply it in my life practically.
“Circumstance does not make the man; it reveals him to himself. To realize that the circumstances that play out are just a reflection of my inner thoughts and their power to cause and effect things to happen around me.”
This is revelatory to me because I always thought there was a powerful force somewhere that just throws things at us to hurt us, that we have no say in it and all we can do is pray. I’m relieved to know that I can think great things into existence in my life, and I plan on doing that every single day.
5. Is there anything in the book that you do not understand or are unclear about, there ideas which you disagree with and, if so, why?
“They themselves are makers of themselves.” I do not agree with this based on the tenets of faith I am grounded in. God made man and in his image too. God has given man the power of freewill and a super imaginative and creative mind but not the power to create himself or anyone else.
“Many men are slaves because one is an oppressor; let us hate the oppressor.” Now, however, there is amongst an increasing few a tendency to reverse this judgment, and to say, “One man is an oppressor because many are slaves; let us despise the slaves.” I have tried severally to wrap my head around this but still can’t understand or relate with it. I would appreciate some help with it.
6. Did the book contain exercises for the reader to complete? If so, did you complete all of the exercises and did you find them helpful?
There were no spelt out exercise/activity/take home in the book. The major exercise I found in the book was to use my thoughts daily, consistently to change my world and invariably the world around me.
7. Was there anything you read in the book that you would like to comment on that was not covered in the previous questions? If so, please comment.
No, nothing for now.
Please rate the following questions on a scale from 1 to 10. Ten is good and one is poor.
A. How interesting was it to read? 6
B. How helpful were the contents? 8
C. How easy was it to understand? 4
D. Would you recommend it to others? 5
E. What is the overall rating you would give it? 7
Jonathan Livingston Seagull
Assessment by Bidemi Abayomi-Daniel (Nigeria)
1. What is the main idea that the author is trying to convey in the book?
Jonathan Livingston Seagull is a truly inspirational piece. The story leaves nothing to imagination with it’s vivid description, adept narration and captivating story line. From my point of view the book is centered around discovering oneself, pushing the limits when it comes to processing our raw gifts and talents into finished products desirable to the world around us, and keeping at it till we attain perfection.
It tells of how no one may see possibilities of success in what we’re about or trying to achieve. They may not see what we’re trying to share with them. They may scorn us or go the extent of even banishing us from their circle. Regardless of the price we would have to pay, we need to stay the course.
Eventually, starting with one then another, people around us will begin to see the light and hopefully be a part of what we have discovered. We must work at love and we must raise others too.
2. What were the seven ideas which were personally most important to you. List these seven ideas followed by an explanation after each one as to why it was important to you. Use personal examples from your own life.
i. Practicing
Jonathan Livingston Seagull practiced and practiced and practiced.
He got scared, yet he practiced
He got hurt, yet he practiced
He got misunderstood, yet he practiced
He got labeled, yet he practiced
He got laughed at, yet he practiced
He made errors, yet he practiced
He got ostracized, yet he practiced
He discovered new flight tricks, yet he kept on practicing.
Till he became an authority in flight and explored worlds none of the flock neither had any idea of nor dreamt about. Personally, I can relate. I taught myself how to use the computer, by exploring the gadget, plenty of trial and errors; but the more I practiced, the more I got a hang of using it.
The more I used each feature the better I got. The more I used word, excel, PowerPoint and all the more things I discovered that they could do and the better I got at their use.
ii. Unashamed
Jonathan was unashamed of his desires, dreams and definitely unashamed to go after them.
It was not common place for seagulls to fly but he dared to fly, Jonathan wasn’t ashamed to look weird & funny trying out those ridiculous looking postures for take off. He wasn’t ashamed to be called names, to be reproached by his peers and others. His mind was made up to make a difference by discovering the full extent of the capacities that lay within a Seagull. To in short set them free.
iii. There’s so much to learn!
To achieve such a feat as Jonathan, we need to give ourselves to learning; to be schooled, tutored.
We need to learn all there is to know about the art for which we want to be masters.
Purpose is a lifelong learning process, it takes a lot of learning, un-learning and re-learning. It also requires us to keep at it.
iv. Discovered
Discovery is the master of revolution. Discovery stems from several usually unrelenting attempts/tries.
We find in the book that Jonathan didn’t discover a new flight trick until after so very many attempts
It’s his discoveries that made him a voice, an authority in flight, exploring worlds unknown to the other flock members. We must not be afraid to try new things, and to keep trying because behind the limitation that our eyes poses and the failures we may experience lies great discoveries that could help us change our world. This is important to me because even though I may not yet have discovered something huge that can change the world but I have discovered things that applications or devices can do which is new to me but can enhance the way I work and my efficiency. It’s also an idea that speaks to my innate desire to be bold to make new moves in my career that will lead me to discovering paths that could change my life forever.
v. There’s a reason to life!
Life is not just about eating and surviving yet another day. This idea shouts out to me because I am a strong believer in cause and effect. We were created to fulfill a cause and have a great effect on our world thereby changing it for good.
vi. I want only to share what I’ve found, to show those horizons out ahead for us all.
This I would say is the true spirit of leadership. It simply depicts to me that Jonathan Livingstone Seagul was a leader. Only a leader will work harder than everyone else to discover what’s possible, be ridiculed for it and still walk in so much love as to share his discoveries with them despite the appaling ways they treated him. It takes a leader, a good leader, a great leader in fact.
This trait is worthy of emulation and I am going to apply it as I go on in my life’s journey.
vii. “Boredom and fear and anger are the reasons that a gull’s life is so short.”
Boredom from not doing anything that stirs excitement, expectation and satisfaction in us as humans is enough to slowly drain life out of us. The fear of the unknown, fear of rejection and fear of failure has the power to cripple us if we allow it. Anger at people or the system that has disappointed, ridiculed or failed us limits us, it holds us back from reaching out for our dreams and desires. All these together contribute to shorten the vibrancy and life span of man. Man must live for a cause, even things and animals where created to serve specific functions why should man think he’s any different. Man must seek to find his unique purpose and “purpose for living is to find perfection and show it forth.”
3. How will these ideas or lessons help you in a practical way, both in your daily personal life and in helping you to create a better world? If so, how? I will live to find my purpose
I will pay the price
I will persist no matter the opposition, challenge, ridicule, work it takes
I will share my discovery with the world
I will work at true love even with those who don’t care so much for my cause.
I will work to raise as many others like me, be a good leader.
4. Quotes: Are there any statements which the author made that particularly got your attention? If so, please quote them and comment as to why they were important to you.
“I just want to know what I can do in the air and what I can’t, that’s all. I just want to know.”
This quote stood out to me because it’s reflective of the phase that I am at right now in my life.
Not so pleasant situations and circumstances have happened one on the heels of another in my life to inform my outlook on life, to dictate what I have focused on for decades; survival. I have not truly lived. I have not given expression to the feelings of wanderlust I have endlessly had. I have not tried out sports that could possibly give me joy, I have not tried out enough things to know everything I like and don’t like, can and can’t do. I have not completely found myself and I just want to know. I want to now what I can and can’t do!
“We can lift ourselves out of ignorance, we can find ourselves as creatures of excellence and intelligence and skill. We can be free! We can learn to fly! Freedom! The freedom that knowledge brings has transformed generations after generations. We’re in the 21st century and the feats we have achieved making life better and better is attributed to our capacity to learn to fly.”
“Life is the unknown and the unknowable, except that we are put into this world to eat, to stay
alive as long as we possibly can.”
This particular quote stands out to me because for several years I have done this one thing with every waking moment, strive to live through yet another day. It’s been all about surviving the next task, the next bill, the next pandemic and so on. It’s been a battle for survival, what to eat, get enough to keep the roof over my family’s head, to survive the next sickness, to just stay afloat-alive. It saddens me to realize that 80% of any population is in this rat race. I have decided I want to be a part of the 20% that controls the wealth of 80% rather than be part of the 80% that scampers for 20% resources.
“For you have learned. One school is finished, and the time has come for another to begin.”
This emphasizes the fact that life is all about constant learning. It’s a school we never graduate from.
Once we’re able to pick lessons for our present level, we move on to learning how to scale through and shine through the next and the cycle continues.
“The most important thing in living was to reach out and touch perfection in that which they most loved to do”; Just like Jonathan Livingston Seagull, the essence of living is to first discover what we most love to do (find ourselves) and then to do it so much and so well that our sole goal would be to reach perfection at it – to do it so well no one else could possibly do it better.”
I want to find what I would do regardless of how I felt, or what’s happening around me for good or bad and continue to do it creatively till I attain perfect perfection at doing it.
“Heaven is not a place, and it is not a time. Heaven is being perfect.”
This quote just like the one before it spoke to me in the same way. It’s a norm for us to hear everyone say
“I’m human, I’m not perfect.”
This quote right here queries that standpoint. If Heaven is neither a place nor time but being perfect, then it suggests that Man can actually be perfect. It goes against every thing I ever believed about my capacity to function, my efficiency and effectiveness. I have always done my best and left the rest to God – this quote here is telling me I can do better, I can be perfect. Much as this sounds exciting, it’s equally scary. Perfect is that nothing else is left to wanting – so I ask myself “Can I do something so unarguably well that I am agreed to be perfect, to be an entity, to be a god in that craft?”. It leaves so much to reason.
5. Is there anything in the book that you do not understand or are unclear about, or are there ideas which you disagree with and if so, why?
One thing I do not understand about the story is that each time Jonathan moved to the next world, did he die or he just truly flew there. For example in the last sentence of Chapter One “And Jonathan Livingston Seagull rose with the two Star bright gulls to disappear into a perfect dark sky.”
6. Did the book contain exercises for the reader to complete? If so, did you complete all of the exercises and did you find them helpful?
No, it did not contain exercises.
7. Was there anything you read in the book that you would like to comment on that was not covered in the previous questions? If so, please comment.
I just would like to point out that even though it’s suggested that one should work to attain perfection, it’s important to ensure we do not go overboard and become too ambitious such that we become overtly pressured and take beastly decisions just to achieve it at all costs. Balance is a key.
Please rate the following questions on a scale from 1 to 10. Ten is good and one is poor.
A. How interesting was it to read? 10
B. How helpful were the contents? 8
C. How easy was it to understand? 10
D. Would you recommend it to others? 10
E. What is the overall rating you would give it? 8.5