"My Mind To Me A Kingdom Is"

My mind to me a kingdom is;
Such perfect joy therein I find
That it excels all other bliss
Which God or nature hath assigned.
Though much I want that most would have,
Yet still my mind forbids to crave.

Sir Edward Dyer's poem was either ahead of his time or harks back to a time when we all knew these things. The worlds and circumstances we create for ourselves all, surely, originate in our minds. Our lives our mostly (if not solely) lived in our heads. How we perceive external events, is all a matter of interpretation. That which we believe, happens. That which we believe and dwell upon, makes up our lives.

If we believe we are victims of circumstance, we are victims of circumstance. If we believe we are capable of creating our experiences, we are capable of creating our experiences. But - and it's a big but! - taking on that responsibility is massive. It means we are responsible for our own failures. We can no longer blame external forces like fate and 'the will of God' or other people. Nor can we spare a single minute lamenting our lot. No one else can change the world for us. We can only change our own worlds by our thoughts. And the most amazing thing for me, is that when we begin to recognize the power we have in ourselves, we also begin to see the Divinity and loveliness in other people and there is no giver or receiver - only the mutual symbiotic life; the rich tapestry wherein every single being, every rock, stone, tree, human life, is sacred and plays its beautiful part.

If, for a week, we all tended our own gardens, watched our thoughts, and created our own kingdom's of beauty, wouldn't the world change in an instant?