“Light Bulbs”
One of the history's sharpest minds belonged to Thomas Edison, the great inventor. Despite only three months of formal schooling, Edison and his inventions changed the world forever. His secret? “One percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration,” as he put it; and he proved his definition by working days at a time, obsessed with his projects, neglecting family and friends, and stopping only for short catnaps. Failure never seemed to discourage him. When about ten thousand experiments with a storage battery failed to produce results, a friend tried to console him. “Why, I have not failed,” Edison quipped. “I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.”
Of all his inventions, perhaps the most famous is the electric light. He devised the prototype, then spent two years looking for the right filament, sending associates to the jungles of the Amazon and to the forests of Japan. He even tried strands of red hair from a friend's beard. Finally, he utilized carbonized thread, and it worked! The world gained electric lights.
Our light bulbs today have three parts to them. There is the glass itself-the bulb surrounding the filament. Inside the bulb is a mixture of gases, commonly argon and nitrogen. Finally, in the very center of the bulb, is the filament. Most filaments today are made of a very tough metal, and when electricity flows through them, they become very hot-about 4,500 degrees-making them glow and give off light.
Light bulbs bear a fascinating resemblance to you and me. There is the outside covering, the glass bulb, the body-the part people see. Inside, like invisible gases within the bulb, are our personalities. And at the very center of it all is that part of us that glows and enlightens-the human mind.
The mind is the sum and substance, the axis and pivot, of our existence. It is the base of operations, the core of our humanity. Our minds are the most important things about us, and our lives are simply the overflow of our thoughts.
Dale Carnegie was once asked on a radio program, “What is the biggest lesson you have ever learned'?” He quickly replied, “By far the most vital lesson I have ever learned is the importance of what we think. If I knew what you think, I would know what you are. Our thoughts make us what we are. Our mental attitude is the X-factor that determines our decisions. Emerson said: 'A man is what he thinks about all day long.' How could he possibly be anything else?”
Why? An old maxim states: “Thoughts produce acts, acts produce habits, and habits produce character” The Roman philosopher Marcus Aurelius said, “Our life is what our thoughts make it.” Or as the Bible puts it, “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.” (Proverbs 23:7)
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