We Are What We Think and Do

I read this morning that "We are what we repeatedly do," and that our "habitual thoughts" compose "the character of [our] mind[s]." What the stoics Aristotle and Marcus Aurelius were basically teaching us is that we are the sum total of all our thoughts and actions. Put in other words, "What we think and do determines who we are—and who we will become" (Uchtdorf, "The Love of God," General Conference, October 2009).

Since this is the case, we are daily deciding our character and mindset. We are constantly choosing what kinds of people we are, because we are the kinds of people who do the things we do, and think the things we think. No wonder, then, that people say that those who focus on negativity will see more things to be negative about. If we focus on negativity too much, that negativity will become a part of us. In fact, it could be argued that everything we think and do is a part of us, and the size of those parts depends on the amount of time and energy we give them. Blogging, for example, is part of my life, part of who I am, and the size of that part of me is determined by the amount of time and energy I spend blogging. And the same goes for everything else I do and think. And the same goes for all of us.

Apostles and Philosophers agree: We are what we do. Then, we should do good acts and think good thoughts, so we will be good as well.