POSITIVE THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK (Week 19)

THE POWER OF POSITIVE FOCUS

Focus gives me powerful leverage over my mind.

When I focus on a thought, it forces my mind to look in the direction of that thought.When I focus for a minute, I push my mind in that direction for a minute.When I consistently focus on it for weeks and months, my life moves in that direction.The focus of my mind expands into my life.

POSITIVE THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK (Week 18)

GOD DOESN'T DO UGLY

Everything that God does is beautiful.God doesn't do ugly.

Beautiful things bear witness to God's love and care.They are perpetual reminders that God created a good world, and that life is also good.

It's easy to forget about God and to focus on other things. A plethora of problems and a paucity of hope blinds people to the presence of God.

Spiritual blindness runs rampant on planet earth.People struggle with all sorts of addictions, depression, loneliness, and they don't see how there is any hope.It's just for folks like these that God created beauty to remind them of his love.

God is never far from us.We swim in his ocean of beauty, and we are immersed in his ocean of love.All we need to do is open our eyes and experience it.

POSITIVE THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK (Week 17)

REACH FOR GOD'S DREAMS

I love this picture of a butterfly reaching for his dreams.From his perch, he leans forward as far as he can, and he extends his proboscis to its very limits to suck the nectar of life.This butterfly is going for it.

Butterflies are programmed to reach for their dreams.Their tiny brain is on autopilot, and they don't have any choice.Their brain is locked into the nectar of life.

Although my brain is a trillion times larger and more complex than that of the butterfly, I am not on autopilot.God gave me the power of choice, and if I ever live my dreams, it will be because I chose to.He gave me the ability to decide my own destiny and to choose my own dreams.

God even went one step further.He has a dream for my life that is better than anything I can imagine.He has a plan that's custom designed just for me, and if I run with his plan I will have an awesome adventure.

I'm not restricting myself to my own limited dreams.I am reaching for God's dream for my life, and I can hardly wait to see what happens.

POSITIVE THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK (Week 16)

VISUALIZATION -LOOKING WITH YOUR MIND

Sometimes you look with your eyes, and at other times you look with your mind.

Visualization is looking with your mind.

We know that what we look at expands into our lives.If we are smart, we advertise our dreams to ourselves by displaying their pictures where we can constantly see them.The more we look at them, the stronger the dreams become, and the more influence they have on our destiny.

Sometimes, it's impossible to create and display a picture of your dreams because an image doesn't exist. That's where visualization comes in.It lets you see things in your mind's eye that you can't see with your physical eyes.Looking with your mind's eye -visualization -has nearly the same power as looking at an actual photograph.For all practical purposes, your brain doesn't distinguish between an image that you see with your eyes from one that you visualize in your mind.

I put a picture of Bora Bora on my wall more than ten years before I actually arrived there on my yacht.But if I didn't have a picture, I could have achieved the same result by visualizing Bora Bora in my mind.It didn't matter whether I saw the image on my wall or visualized it in my mind; the net results were the same.I had Bora Bora on my mind, and I was willing to move heaven and earth to get there.

Visualization has great power for both good and evil.Unfortunately, not everyone uses it to visualize good.They visualize bad health, poverty, and depression, and like night follows day, problems expand into their life.

Each day when I wake up, I visualize my future.In my mind, I see myself doing dozens of things that move me in the direction of my dreams.I visualize the path to my dreams so that when I walk down that path, it will be a trip through familiar territory.

When you visualize your future, don't forget that God has a dream for your life that is better than anything you can imagine.If you get in agreement with God and visualize his master plan, your life will become an awesome adventure.

POSITIVE THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK (Week 15)

GOD'S EXCELLENT PLAN

You are not an accident.You are part of God's excellent plan.

After God created the universe and populated it with life, He focused all his creative power on his final masterpiece.In an instant of time, He created man in his image so that you bear the likeness of God.

Whether you realize it or not, God embedded excellence into the core of your being.From the top of your head to the tip of you miraculous big toe, you are excellent through and through.God has a plan for you life custom designed for just you, and that plan has excellence stamped all over it.

If you have been beaten down into mediocrity, and if you feel there's no reason for hope, it's time for you to listen up.You have the ability to achieve excellence in at least one area of your life, and that's just the beginning.There's no limit to how good your life can become when you align yourself with God's master plan.

POSITIVE THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK (Week 14)

TOUCHING GOD
I love pictures of butterflies.When I saw this photographed one, I felt like I was touching God.The light was just right and the beauty so stunning that I couldn't believe my eyes.

That's the way God's beauty is; when you see it, you just can believe your eyes.

When God created the world He had a master plan.He decided that everything He touched would turn to beauty.God doesn't do ugly.He only does beauty, and He does it on a grand scale.Beauty is God's fingerprint.

Everything that God creates is beautiful.I've been alive for quite a few years now and during all those years I've never found anything created by God that wasn't beautiful.I think that's why I love beauty so much.It's the closest I can come to actually touching God.It's like God and I are living on opposite sides of a two way mirror.On his side He touches things and makes them beautiful.On my side I touch the same things and experience his beauty.I can see the tip of his finger and my finger coming together in a million beautiful places around the world.

POSITIVE THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK (Week 13)

DEFINITION OF A GREAT DAY

Today was a great day.I took advantage of my opportunities, and I have no regrets.

When I say yes to life,the door of opportunity swings open wide, and behind that door are dozens of others that also swing open for as long as I continue to say yes.When I say yes to life, there is no limit to how good my life can become.

When I say no to life, the door of opportunity slams shut.It's impossible to shut only one door, because all the doors behind the first one remain closed as well.When I say no, a tidal wave of limitations and regrets sweep through my life.

Every day, I choose to have a great day.I take advantage of my opportunities, and I live without regrets.

POSITIVE THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK (Week 12)

Yes its been a LONG while since I have blogged... Lets just say that I've steered off course and I'm making my way back again so here goes (^^,).

NOTHING TO LOSE


You start out life with nothing, and you end it the same way.  But between the start and the finish, you can have an awesome adventure.


If you are going to live, you may as well live as if you are a great person.  That means, you live as if your dreams are possible and work each day to make them happen.  You travel far, travel light, and make your life into what you want it to be.  You never forget that life isn't about stuff; instead, it's about living your dreams.


As you face problems each day, ask yourself, "How would I handle this challenge if I was a great person?"  After you answer that question,  go ahead and do what a great person would do.


Don't tiptoe through life trying to just get by.  Instead, make your life into something memorable, something great.


You only get one life, and you may as well make it into a great one.  You have little to lose and much to gain, so go ahead and live as if you are great.

POSITIVE THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK (Week 11)

ENOUGH  FAITH

In my youth, I thought I needed a mountain of faith if I wanted to move mountains.  I was wrong.  Faith isn't about size.  It's about being willing and committed.

It only takes a speck of faith to move mountains, but it takes a massive commitment to make it happen.

I used to sit around wondering how I could muster enough faith to make my dreams come true.  There weren't any faith stores in my neighborhood where I could purchase some faith.  There weren't any faith pills I could pop into my mouth and suddenly faith would sweep through my life.  The only thing I found was obstacles, naysayers, and critics who said my dreams were impossible; they assured me that my dreams  would never happen.

Thank God I didn't listen to the prophets of doom.  Contrary to their predictions and in spite of all the obstacles, I am living proof that dreams come true.

I discovered that when I am willing to do whatever it takes, when I am willing to take the next step, when I am willing to take the risk and accept the consequences, then I have all the faith I need to make my dreams come true.

Don't sit around waiting for a mountain of faith to drop into your life.  A speck of faith is all you need to start living your dreams.

POSITIVE THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK (Week 10)

FOCUS ON YOUR DREAMS

The only way to have a positive mind is to develop a positive focus.  The war for a positive mind is fought on the battlefield of focus.

When you focus on positive things, you push your mind in a positive direction, and your life starts to improve.  When you focus on your dreams, the direction of your life changes, and your dreams start to come true.

It's impossible to predict how long it will take for a positive focus to do its work.  But that doesn't matter.  What's important is that if you maintain a positive focus, it's inevitable that you will become a more positive person.  If you focus on your dreams, it's inevitable that they will come true.

POSITIVE THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK (Week 9)

BUTTERFLY MAKE UP

How could you market beauty products to butterflies?

First you would need to convince them that they weren't beautiful just the way they are.  You would need a clever marketing campaign to load them up with feelings of inferiority and inadequacy.  Then you would reprogram their brain with your concept of beauty which is only attainable if they use your products.

You might want to start out by changing the color of their antennas.  Why should they have to suffer with orange pollen on their antennas when they could apply make-up and change their antennas a better color?  And look at those eyes; some type of eye liner to make their eyes stand out would certainly enhance their appearance.  Tell them that this year the stripped body is out, and a formal black thorax is in; they obviously need a fancy vest.  Of course, you wouldn't want to always have the same color wings.  A major wing makeover is long overdue.

If this all sounds a little foolish, you are exactly right.  God made butterflies beautiful just the way they are.

God also made you beautiful just the way you are.  You are created in the image of God, and you bear his likeness.  From the top of your head to the tip of your toes, you are a thing of beauty.

POSITIVE THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK (Week 8)

DON'T LET THE WORLD CLIP YOUR WINGS

When the naysayers come to me with their load of negativity and limitations, I know why they are there.  They want to clip my wings and force me into their mold.

When the world pops me into its mold, I never come out as an eagle with the ability to fly.  I emerge from the mold earthbound with wings of lead.

God designed me to fly like an eagle.  If I don't load myself up with burdens, I can soar for my entire life.  I will not let the world clip my wings or force me into its mold.  I will fly like an eagle.

POSITIVE THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK (Week 7)

UNSTOPPABLE

Helpless and Hopeless are weapons of mass destruction that vaporize millions of dreams.   Helpless says that there's nothing you can do to overcome you problems, and Hopeless says it's not even worth trying.

But before you surrender your dreams to this duo of despair, you should get another opinion.

God has a dream for your life that is better than anything you can imagine, and if you open your heart to the power of his love, those dreams will start to come true.

You have a choice.

You can listen to Helpless and Hopeless, or you can listen to God's message of love.

God says:

"Ask, and you will receive.  Seek, and you will find.  Knock and the door will be opened."
"All things work together for good for those who love God."
"I have come that you might have life and have it more abundantly."

God says that there is hope, because He is Hope.  God says that there is Help, because He is Help.  God is in it with you for the long haul, and no problem is too big for Him.  He made the universe and everything in it, and his specialty is dealing with problems on a large scale.

No matter how big your problems, they are never bigger than God.  Don't look at the size of your problems.  Instead, look at the size of your God.

You and God make an unstoppable team.  So say good-bye to Helpless and Hopeless, and say hello to God's dream for your life.

POSITIVE THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK (Week 6)

THE BUILDING BLOCKS OF LIFE
Your thoughts are the building blocks of life.  You build your future thought by thought.

Most people are clueless about how to make a life.  For them, life just happens.  From the time they get up in the morning to the time they go to bed at night, they are adrift on an Ocean of Ignorance.  They don't design their life; it simply happens by default.  They lose the opportunity to build the life of their dreams.

A few people build their lives on great thoughts.  These folks know that the thoughts they put into their mind create the foundation for their dreams.  Life happens one thought at a time, and they want to choose their thoughts.

These are the types of thoughts that they select:

1.  Thoughts of excellence
2.  Thoughts of love
3.  Thoughts of joy
4.  Thoughts of greatness
5.  Thoughts of abundance
6.  Thoughts of God's favor and love
7.  Thoughts of strength
8.  Positive thoughts

These are the building blocks for their lives.  It's no wonder that they live their dreams, because these are the thoughts from which dreams are made.

Don't waste your life in default mode.  The thought factory is always open, and you can select any type of thoughts.  Choose your thoughts well and make your life into an awesome adventure.

There is no limit to how good your life can become.

POSITIVE THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK (Week 5)

I DON'T BELIEVE IN SUCCESS

I don't believe in success, but I do believe in excellence.

The biggest problem with success is I don't know what it is, and it's hard to hold on to.  It's like a wet bar of soap that keeps sliding out of my hands.  Just when I think I have success, away it goes.

Excellence is different.  Everyone can instantly recognize excellence, and it's an attainable goal.

I believe that God has given everyone the ability to achieve excellence in at least one area of their life.  God has programmed people so that they feel good about themselves when then develop an area of excellence.  Mediocrity doesn't feel right.  When you pursue mediocrity, you feel like you are wasting your life.

My goal is to pursue excellence in whatever I do.  I don't think about my work in terms of success.  Instead, my total focus is on excellence.  Success comes and goes, but excellence lasts forever.

POSITIVE THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK (Week 4)

THERE IS NO LIMIT TO HOW GOOD MY LIFE CAN BECOME

When I hear people talk about God's plan for their life, there's frequently a feeling of apprehension embedded in the discussion.  The unspoken fear is that God wants to make you do something that you don't want to do, and He has a plan to send you to some obscure part of the planet.  You're sure that if you follow His plan, you'll end up in Bongo Congo doing things that you don't want to do.  They regard God as the Omnipresent Killjoy bent on ruining their life.

I'm not sure why people are so apprehensive.  God never did anything to make people feel that way.  If you ever end up in Bongo Congo, it will be because that's where you wanted to go.  God can use  you anywhere, even in Bongo Congo.

God doesn't do bad things to people.  People do bad things to people.

God has a dream for your life that is better than anything you can imagine.  And you don't have to twist God's arm to make that dream come true.  God wants it to happen even more than you do.  God needs people like you and me, and He needs all of your talents and abilities.  You don't need to grovel and scrape before God.  You are one of his children, and the reason He gave you those talents and abilities is because He is going to use them to bless His world.

God's arms of love are your arms.  God's heart of love is your heart.  God's voice of love is your voice.  God songs of love are the songs that you write and sing.

You don't need to worry about whether God has a plan for your life.  All you need to do is get in agreement with Him and start living the plan.  Jesus said seek and you will find, ask and it will be given to you, knock and the door will be opened.  God isn't holding anything back.  The problem isn't him.  The problem is us.

God wants to use us in a big way.  He wants us to live large for his kingdom.  You only get one life, and God wants to make it into a great one.

POSITIVE THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK (Week 3)

THE NEXT STEP

Although I have 20/20 hindsight, when I look into the future, I can't see farther than the next step.   God made the world work that way and He did it for a good reason.

Our future is in our hands, and we can make it into anything we want.  If we knew what was going to happen ahead of time, our life would become a rerun.  Foreknowledge would blunt the thrill of victory and magnify the agony of defeat.  

After I arrived in New Zealand on my catamaran, I purchased a van that I used to tour the country.  While touring on the north island, I rolled the van and nearly died in the accident.  I broke two legs, five ribs, one scapula, punctured one lung, and ended up in the hospital for two months.

Before this accident I had just spent six months sailing across the Pacific Ocean with my family.  We explored the marvels of the Galapagos Islands and discovered the glories of Polynesian paradise.  Samoa, Tonga, and Fiji revealed their wonders as our catamaran sailed west.  By the time our anchor was down in New Zealand, we had sailed on the ocean of our dreams, and life was good.

If I had know ahead of time about the car accident, the entire trip across the Pacific would have been a countdown to disaster.  Instead of reveling in our cruising dreams, I would have been focusing on future pain.

God in his mercy gives us enough strength to live our dreams each day, but He doesn't load the future into our backpack and force us to carry that burden.  Instead, He parcels out our life one day at a time and gives us the courage to take the next step.

POSITIVE THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK (Week 2)

LESSONS FROM THE BUTTERFLY

Outward appearances are deceiving, so don't be too quick to judge.

Take caterpillars, for instance.  Some caterpillars are a thing of beauty, but most of them aren't much to look at.  They crawl around like colored worms, they eat leaves for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and they have the personality of a sea slug.  How many people have invited you over to look at their caterpillar collection?  Few to none, I'll bet.  When God passed out good looks, he apparently skipped the caterpillars.

After caterpillars mature, they spin a silken chrysalis around their plump body, and they go into what seems like hibernation.  In the chrysalis stage, they're not much to look at either.   A chrysalis may represent outstanding engineering, but as a thing of beauty it's an abject failure.  Their chrysalis condo is simply their crash pad while God works the wonders of metamorphosis.

When the butterfly finally emerges from the chrysalis, a miracle has happened.  The  former ugly duckling is now a thing of beauty.  Colors splash across its wings, and the former slug like plant eater now enjoys the freedom of flight.  It spends the rest of its days flying from flower to flower sucking up the nectar of life.

Everybody likes butterflies.  These delicate flying palates of color remind us how much God loves beautiful things.  God didn't have to make them beautiful.   He could have made them look like flying slugs; just attach drab wings to a caterpillar's body, and the job is done.

Perhaps God made butterflies to teach us lessons about life and make us more tolerant and less judgmental.  We are all a work in progress and although were not butterflies yet, we can't become butterflies without first being caterpillars.  We've got to eat a lot of leaves and do a lot of growing before we blossom into our final state.  Just as you can't judge a book by its cover, you can't judge a caterpillar by its color.  The caterpillar might not look like much now, but when God gets done with it, it will become a creature of splendor.

Judging people harshly in their caterpillar stage is a big mistake.  They are a work in progress, and what you see is not the finished product.  Right now, a person may not look like much, but when God finishes working his miracle,  a new person painted by God's palette of love will emerge in awesome beauty.

Don't be quick to judge yourself in a harsh manner either; you also are a work in progress.  Your caterpillar stage might not seem like fun, but God knows what He is doing.  You have to be a caterpillar before you can become a butterfly; there is no other way.  God is working behind the scenes, taking care of the details, and things are going to work out.

God has a dream for your life that is better than you can imagine.  When you get into agreement with His plan, there's no limit to how good your life can become.

POSITIVE THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK (Week 1)

THE WHEEL OF CHANGE

Millions of people struggle to make positive changes but fail in their quest.  The reason they fail is because they try to change their life without first changing the way they think.  Until they change the way they think, positive change will not happen.

Changing the way you think is the key to positive change.

Inside your mind is a collection of thoughts that defines what it means to be you.  That collection is unique, and is the only part of you that you can change, or that would ever be worth changing.  If you want to change who you are, you must change the collection of thoughts that defines what it means to be you.

What you put into your mind changes changes who you are, and what others put in changes who you are as well.  That's why the media battles so strongly to gain your attention.  They want to control the way you think so they can control you and how you spend your money.  They fill your world with billboards, advertising, and fifteen second sound and video bites. Their business is all about changing the way you think.

It's not hard to change your life; you do it all the time.  Every time you put something new into your mind, your life changes.  When you put in good things, your life becomes better, and when you fill it with garbage, your life becomes worse.  The wheel of change always turns in the direction of what you put into your mind.

You already know how to change your life.  You don't need to go to university to get a PhD. in psychology to change the way you think.  You simply need to start putting different things in your mind.  Watch different programs on television, or better yet, turn off television and go to the library and start filling your mind with good books.

At the most basic level, you are what you think about all day long.  That's why what you put into your mind is so important.  When you put in positive thoughts, you become a more positive person.  When you put in empowering thoughts, you become a stronger person.  When you put in resourceful thoughts, your life moves in the direction of excellence and you become a better person.  When you put in unlimited thoughts, you realize there is no limit to how good your life can become.

It's time for you to do some mental exercise.  Repeat after me:

The wheel of change always turns in the direction of what I put into my mind.
Your assignment is to repeat those words out loud twenty times.  After you do that, write them on a piece of paper ten times to make them a permanent resident of your memory banks.  This isn't optional.  If you want to experience positive change, you are going to have to start putting positive things into your mind, and now is a good time to get started.

Life is good.