I ran across this poem when I was re-reading Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hills.
“I bargained with Life for a penny,
And Life would pay no more,
However I begged at evening,
When I counted my scanty store;
For Life is just an employer,
He gives you what you ask,
But once you have set the wages,
Why, you must bear the task.
I worked for a menial’s hire,
Only to learn, dismayed,
That any wage I had asked of Life,
Life would have paid.”
― Jessie B. Rittenhouse
I have read Think and Grow Rich several times and it is absolutely amazing to me how I discover so many new thoughts and visions for myself in the re-reading of any book. I was told it was because I am a different person at the time of the re-reading. I have had new life experiences that turn my brain into a new sponge taking in completely different water.
I think about who we are as teenagers, molded by our parents, and just starting out to think for ourselves, and ready to express those thoughts to the world. And yet, in a very few years as young adults, we see and understand our world in a totally new light. Yes, we are a different person. And so it goes through stages of life. We change our views on politics and religion. We take on new ideas of money and how to spend or invest it. Our businesses wane and grow in ways completely off our radar screen, as do our personal relationships.
This poem explains why the poor stay poor, the middle class stay put, and the wealthy stay wealthy, no matter how many times they risk an investment. Most people are self-limiting with their beliefs. Old programs are running through their minds, and are accepted as dogma. But we all know and love the rags-to-riches stories, like that of Abraham Lincoln and Howard Schultz of Starbucks. In actuality, the universe returns to us whatever we ask of it and believe. This is the Law of Attraction, the most superior law in the universe. It works all the time whether we believe in it or not.
As I reflect on this poem, I realize that what we think about we get. What we expect, we receive. “Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t — you’re right,” said Henry Ford.
So, think big! Believe in yourself! Ask for the world! Your deserve it! “You will become what you think about most of the time!” — Earl Nightingale
