"As a man thinketh in his heart so is he." We can't control the things, which enter into our mind, but we can control what we do with them. We are the masters of our own destinies. We can choose the type of person we want to be, by using or removing the thoughts that enter into our minds. No good thought can produce bad things and no evil thought can produce good things. "They themselves are the makers of themselves.".
Our character is directly related to what we think. Just as the plant could not grow without the seed, all of our acts spring forth from some kind of thought. Even acts classified as spontaneous have to have had a thought to begin them. If an act is a product of thought, then happiness and sorrow are the consequences to our actions. We create our own world; a good and righteous man is not a thing of chance but a result of continual effort in right thinking.
Even in a weakened state, man is the master of his own mind. In this situation man is a foolish governor of the very thing that could change his position. Good things come to those who work. We cannot expect to have righteous thoughts if we don't strive to achieve them. When we dwell on the negative things in our lives the depression and burdens continually pull us down. When we continually strive to find the good in all situations, a happy disposition will be ours to cherish for our entire lives.
We can think of our minds like that of a garden. We can work on them and cultivate them so we can have fruits, or we can leave them idle and have them produce weeds and thorns. It is important for us to remember to weed our minds of all the useless, wrong, and impure thoughts in order to prepare our minds for the seeds that will bring forth good and happy actions. We all face different circumstances. We are placed in these circumstances to learn how to deal with them. Once we have, then we enter into new circumstances that will help the gardens of our minds.