"Be of good cheer. Do not think of today's failures, but of the success that may come tomorrow. You have set yourselves a difficult task, but you will succeed if you persevere; and you will find a joy in overcoming obstacles."
~ Helen Keller
Friday, September 18, 2009
A Cheerful Thought...
Thursday, September 17, 2009
An "Aha!" Moment...
I love it when I have those little "Aha!" moments that give me a little clearer insight into a principle that is important to me, my family, or those people that I am serving. I had just such a moment when I was reading Chapter 6 of Wallace Wattle's The Science of Getting Rich.
One of the first principles that Wallace teaches in his book is that God does not want us to be poor, but actually wants us to be abundantly rich. This is evidenced by all his creations. A tiny seed is planted and grows to be a large tree, shedding hundreds of seeds to create hundreds of more trees that will do the same.
People struggle with the concept that all the wealth of the earth is theirs to enjoy. Some struggle because they feel poverty and self-sacrifice is more pleasing to God. These are those who believe that the scriptures teach that "money is the root of all evil." What they actually teach is that "the love of money is the root of all evil" (1 Tim. 6:10) and that "it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom." (Luke 12:32) Others may struggle due to the belief that there is not enough to go around and so some people have to be poor. And so they sit at home at night in front of their T.V. lamenting their lack as they watch those who believe that there is plenty to be had as they accumulate far more than they need through their faith, efforts and persistence.
In the sixth chapter, titled How Riches Come To You, Wallace shares the story of a student that struggled to believe that all wealth was his. He was very poor, living in a rented house and struggling to survive on what he made day to day. He wanted to believe he was meant for more so he decided to follow Wattle's instructions to ask for more than he then had. He didn't feel it was unreasonable to ask for a new carpet for his best room and a small stove to heat the house during cold weather. Following Wallace's instructions, he had both within a few months. It then occurred to him that he had not asked enough. He proceeded to go through his home making a list of all the improvements he would like to make to the home and what furnishings he would like to fill it with. Holding that complete picture in mind, he started to live in the Certain Way and to move towards what he wanted. He ended up owning the home and rebuilt it after the form of his mental image.
The "Aha!" moment in all of this is encapsulated in Jesus Christ's statement to two blind men who sought him for the purpose of restoring their sight: "According to your faith be it unto you." (Matt. 9:29)
The man in Wallace's story had little faith that all wealth was his, but he had enough faith to try for the rug and the stove. When his faith was rewarded it grew to the point that he believed he could create the home that he wanted. And as that was accomplished his faith grew even more and he moved on to get greater things.
What things have you wanted in your life that you never received? Where is your faith in relation to those desires?
If you are not at the weight you desire or don't have the figure you want, where is your faith? Do you have faith that you can have that slim figure? Do you have faith that the exercise is going to pay huge dividends? Do you have faith that when you are slimmer you will be able to enjoy your favorite foods without feeling guilty and still keep your slimmed-down shape? Or do you have more faith that you will never reach that size because the exercise will never work, and why should you put yourself through that torture anyways only to never be able to eat a bar of chocolate again without adding back 20 pounds?
If you don't have the income you desire, where is your faith? Do you have faith that there is more money available to you? Do you have faith that you deserve it? Do you have faith that you can increase your income without becoming a greedy person or without sacrificing your marriage or your relationship with your kids? Or do you have more faith that God never meant for you to be rich, that you will never get paid more than you are right now, or that only workaholics that end up divorced can get the kind of income you want to earn?
If you don't have the relationship you desire, where is your faith? Do you have faith that you are worthy of love? Do you have faith that you will meet the person who is right for you? Do you have faith that the person you meet will find the love you have to offer to be fulfilling and never have any desire for anyone else? Or do you have more faith that nobody will love you completely, that your chances of finding Mr. or Mrs. Right are astronomically not in your favor and, even if you did meet just such a person, they would eventually end up leaving you or cheating on you?
Look to the desires of your heart that haven't been fulfilled and analyze what faith you have, if any, in your achieving that desire. If you have a deep and abiding faith that you will obtain the desires of your heart, I am willing to bet that you are happily working and waiting for your desires to be realized, enduring any challenges or trials that come your way. And those trials will come for all faith must be tried and tested to prove it is strong enough.
If you feel hopeless and despondent when you think of those desires, then consider where you have placed your faith that is not supporting you. Reject those weak beliefs that are holding you back and give yourself hope again! You are worthy, capable, ready and able to receive those desires of your heart! Have faith in that and act on the promptings and inspirations that will open you to receive it!
The order has been placed! Your desire is being shipped direct to you! Have faith that you will receive!
One of the first principles that Wallace teaches in his book is that God does not want us to be poor, but actually wants us to be abundantly rich. This is evidenced by all his creations. A tiny seed is planted and grows to be a large tree, shedding hundreds of seeds to create hundreds of more trees that will do the same.
People struggle with the concept that all the wealth of the earth is theirs to enjoy. Some struggle because they feel poverty and self-sacrifice is more pleasing to God. These are those who believe that the scriptures teach that "money is the root of all evil." What they actually teach is that "the love of money is the root of all evil" (1 Tim. 6:10) and that "it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom." (Luke 12:32) Others may struggle due to the belief that there is not enough to go around and so some people have to be poor. And so they sit at home at night in front of their T.V. lamenting their lack as they watch those who believe that there is plenty to be had as they accumulate far more than they need through their faith, efforts and persistence.
In the sixth chapter, titled How Riches Come To You, Wallace shares the story of a student that struggled to believe that all wealth was his. He was very poor, living in a rented house and struggling to survive on what he made day to day. He wanted to believe he was meant for more so he decided to follow Wattle's instructions to ask for more than he then had. He didn't feel it was unreasonable to ask for a new carpet for his best room and a small stove to heat the house during cold weather. Following Wallace's instructions, he had both within a few months. It then occurred to him that he had not asked enough. He proceeded to go through his home making a list of all the improvements he would like to make to the home and what furnishings he would like to fill it with. Holding that complete picture in mind, he started to live in the Certain Way and to move towards what he wanted. He ended up owning the home and rebuilt it after the form of his mental image.
The "Aha!" moment in all of this is encapsulated in Jesus Christ's statement to two blind men who sought him for the purpose of restoring their sight: "According to your faith be it unto you." (Matt. 9:29)
The man in Wallace's story had little faith that all wealth was his, but he had enough faith to try for the rug and the stove. When his faith was rewarded it grew to the point that he believed he could create the home that he wanted. And as that was accomplished his faith grew even more and he moved on to get greater things.
What things have you wanted in your life that you never received? Where is your faith in relation to those desires?
If you are not at the weight you desire or don't have the figure you want, where is your faith? Do you have faith that you can have that slim figure? Do you have faith that the exercise is going to pay huge dividends? Do you have faith that when you are slimmer you will be able to enjoy your favorite foods without feeling guilty and still keep your slimmed-down shape? Or do you have more faith that you will never reach that size because the exercise will never work, and why should you put yourself through that torture anyways only to never be able to eat a bar of chocolate again without adding back 20 pounds?
If you don't have the income you desire, where is your faith? Do you have faith that there is more money available to you? Do you have faith that you deserve it? Do you have faith that you can increase your income without becoming a greedy person or without sacrificing your marriage or your relationship with your kids? Or do you have more faith that God never meant for you to be rich, that you will never get paid more than you are right now, or that only workaholics that end up divorced can get the kind of income you want to earn?
If you don't have the relationship you desire, where is your faith? Do you have faith that you are worthy of love? Do you have faith that you will meet the person who is right for you? Do you have faith that the person you meet will find the love you have to offer to be fulfilling and never have any desire for anyone else? Or do you have more faith that nobody will love you completely, that your chances of finding Mr. or Mrs. Right are astronomically not in your favor and, even if you did meet just such a person, they would eventually end up leaving you or cheating on you?
Look to the desires of your heart that haven't been fulfilled and analyze what faith you have, if any, in your achieving that desire. If you have a deep and abiding faith that you will obtain the desires of your heart, I am willing to bet that you are happily working and waiting for your desires to be realized, enduring any challenges or trials that come your way. And those trials will come for all faith must be tried and tested to prove it is strong enough.
If you feel hopeless and despondent when you think of those desires, then consider where you have placed your faith that is not supporting you. Reject those weak beliefs that are holding you back and give yourself hope again! You are worthy, capable, ready and able to receive those desires of your heart! Have faith in that and act on the promptings and inspirations that will open you to receive it!
The order has been placed! Your desire is being shipped direct to you! Have faith that you will receive!
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Today...
"Today will never happen again. Don't waste it with a false start or no start at all. You were not born to fail."
~ Og mandino
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
The Formula for Failure and Success
by Jim Rohn, America's Foremost Business Philosopher
Failure is not a single, cataclysmic event. We do not fail overnight. Failure is the inevitable result of an accumulation of poor thinking and poor choices. To put it more simply, failure is nothing more than a few errors in judgment repeated every day.
Now why would someone make an error in judgment and then be so foolish as to repeat it every day? The answer is because he or she does not think that it matters.
On their own, our daily acts do not seem that important. A minor oversight, a poor decision, or a wasted hour generally doesn't result in an instant and measurable impact. More often than not, we escape from any immediate consequences of our deeds.
If we have not bothered to read a single book in the past ninety days, this lack of discipline does not seem to have any immediate impact on our lives. And since nothing drastic happened to us after the first ninety days, we repeat this error in judgment for another ninety days, and on and on it goes. Why? Because it doesn't seem to matter. And herein lies the great danger. Far worse than not reading the books is not even realizing that it matters!
Those who eat too many of the wrong foods are contributing to a future health problem, but the joy of the moment overshadows the consequence of the future. It does not seem to matter. Those who smoke too much or drink too much go on making these poor choices year after year after year... because it doesn't seem to matter. But the pain and regret of these errors in judgment have only been delayed for a future time. Consequences are seldom instant; instead, they accumulate until the inevitable day of reckoning finally arrives and the price must be paid for our poor choices - choices that didn't seem to matter.
Failure's most dangerous attribute is its subtlety. In the short term those little errors don't seem to make any difference. We do not seem to be failing. In fact, sometimes these accumulated errors in judgment occur throughout a period of great joy and prosperity in our lives. Since nothing terrible happens to us, since there are no instant consequences to capture our attention, we simply drift from one day to the next, repeating the errors, thinking the wrong thoughts, listening to the wrong voices and making the wrong choices. The sky did not fall in on us yesterday; therefore the act was probably harmless. Since it seemed to have no measurable consequence, it is probably safe to repeat.
But we must become better educated than that!
If at the end of the day when we made our first error in judgment the sky had fallen in on us, we undoubtedly would have taken immediate steps to ensure that the act would never be repeated again. Like the child who places his hand on a hot burner despite his parents' warnings, we would have had an instantaneous experience accompanying our error in judgment.
Unfortunately, failure does not shout out its warnings as our parents once did. This is why it is imperative to refine our philosophy in order to be able to make better choices. With a powerful, personal philosophy guiding our every step, we become more aware of our errors in judgment and more aware that each error really does matter.
Now here is the great news. Just like the formula for failure, the formula for success is easy to follow: It's a few simple disciplines practiced every day.
Now here is an interesting question worth pondering: How can we change the errors in the formula for failure into the disciplines required in the formula for success? The answer is by making the future an important part of our current philosophy.
Both success and failure involve future consequences, namely the inevitable rewards or unavoidable regrets resulting from past activities. If this is true, why don't more people take time to ponder the future? The answer is simple: They are so caught up in the current moment that it doesn't seem to matter. The problems and the rewards of today are so absorbing to some human beings that they never pause long enough to think about tomorrow.
But what if we did develop a new discipline to take just a few minutes every day to look a little further down the road? We would then be able to foresee the impending consequences of our current conduct. Armed with that valuable information, we would be able to take the necessary action to change our errors into new success-oriented disciplines. In other words, by disciplining ourselves to see the future in advance, we would be able to change our thinking, amend our errors and develop new habits to replace the old.
One of the exciting things about the formula for success - a few simple disciplines practiced every day - is that the results are almost immediate. As we voluntarily change daily errors into daily disciplines, we experience positive results in a very short period of time. When we change our diet, our health improves noticeably in just a few weeks. When we start exercising, we feel a new vitality almost immediately. When we begin reading, we experience a growing awareness and a new level of self-confidence. Whatever new discipline we begin to practice daily will produce exciting results that will drive us to become even better at developing new disciplines.
The real magic of new disciplines is that they will cause us to amend our thinking. If we were to start today to read the books, keep a journal, attend the classes, listen more and observe more, then today would be the first day of a new life leading to a better future. If we were to start today to try harder, and in every way make a conscious and consistent effort to change subtle and deadly errors into constructive and rewarding disciplines, we would never again settle for a life of existence — not once we have tasted the fruits of a life of substance!
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