Gordon B. Hinckley once commented,  “Some years ago I clipped an article on Commander William Robert Anderson, The man who first took a submarine under the North Pole from the waters of the Pacific to the waters of the Atlantic.  It was an untried and dangerous mission.

In his wallet he carried a tattered card with these words: “ I believe I am always divinely guided, I believe I will always take the right road, I believe God will always make a way where there is no way.”

Comment found in One Bright Shining Hope  Messages for Women from Gordon B. Hinckley.  Quote from: (in Christopher S. Wren, “If It’s 3-to-1 against Anderson: Can a Congressman Afford a Conscience?” Look, April 20, 1971, 48).

“I believe I am always divinely guided, I believe I will always take the right road, I believe God will always make a way where there is no way.”…  I BELIEVE!

Stephen R. Covey has a famous quote…”Start with the End in Mind”.   Basically this is saying, know what you want to accomplish or have happen in your life,  put  your focus on the end point or “result” and then  allow yourself to take the action to move in that direction. 

I have find this to be a “3-part” step energized from a thought energy that ranges in the 500′s…554-555 to be exact.  “Pure Thought-

1. an idea, or passion for something, a revelation or prompting pulled in from…
   
2. a strong clear Intention and…
   
3. a decided heart willing to put forth action.”

The product of these 3 elements, brought together, generates the energy of the mind to  form a “pure thought”.  It was the energy of a pure thought that had enough energy to build rocket ships to lift a man to the moon, create skyscrapers, and build bridges that seem to stretch for ever. 

Where will it lead you?

Today’s affirmation: ” I am focusing only on ‘pure thoughts’”.

   Picture by JoAnn Wheadon Pollard

Walking out of the gym today I became aware of  an older couple also heading to their car.  In the attempt to spread a little sunshine in their day, I took the opportunity to say hello and see if they were from out of town.   In our brief conversation she mentioned that her tour around town had not shown up and she was quite disgusted.

She asked if I knew some good places to eat, which of course I did, and I proceeded to tell her.  With each suggestion she gave a counter comment of why she was not willing to try that place out.   The comments were not based on the food,  rather her fear of trying something new.

I could tell that she was totally unaware of what she was saying…and the more I tried to assist her, I soon realized nothing was going to make her happy.  Although she thought the problem was a missed tour, I recognized that a personal  inner attitude and belief  had been triggered in her mind and she was now taking full hold of its message.  Her belief was that she was not valuable enough for someone to show up in her life.  Once her mind took hold of this opinion the emotion of anger was called into action;  and the possibility of having FUN went right out the window – so to speak..

The attitude of  “I am less than someone or something else” can be halted and stopped before taking hold of the mind;  yet, there is a tendency to give up and give in when it comes rushing through.  The solution?  Taking the time to have a well thought-out game plan in place.   A call to action be it a word, a song, or positive phrase that will fill the thinking space with which a negative thought wants to reside.

Ask yourself these questions next time a negative thought or attitude starts playing its tormenting song.  “Am I willing to give up my HAPPINESS over __________?”  “Is happiness really important to me, or am I needing someone to pay a little extra attention to me?”

If it is happiness you are seeking…. you and only you are the one who has the power to create and accept  those inner emotions, because no one can MAKE you happy.   If what you seek is extra attention, then change your thought and blow out the fiery flame of ANGER.  Be WILLING to open up TO WHOM EVER God PLACES in your path!   God does send “Earthly” Angels.

     It’s time for bed and I can hear the familiar sound of one unable to take a deep breath as my daughter struggles to get oxygen into her lungs.  This is not a normal situation for her; she is usually very healthy; but due to the taxing effect of her allergies, her body is having to work extra hard just to breath.  (more…)

Today’s thought is titled: Work Clothes/Play Clothes…..Are You wearing true Motivation?

“Motivation is when your dreams put on work clothes”  Benjamin Franklin

Reading this caused my spirit leaped with joy and I couldn’t help but smile!  I told myself  “Yes Cathy,  he’s talking about your ‘get down to work’ clothes not  ‘designer jeans”‘. (more…)

  Problems -Your Center or Your  Launching Pad

These shoes hang high up on telephone line right over a very busy street in Dallas TX.   I have    seen them for over a year now…….. one can only guess what happened.  Non the less, someone has been without a good pair of athletic shoes.  Might be considered a problem on Monday’s practice after Saturday’s night fun.

John C. Maxwell has said, “You can make your problems or trials the center of everything you do in life, or a launching pad for a whole new way of looking at life.”   The key is to look beyond your circumstances and see the big picture.  Have an open mind to change always assessing ones attitude and never lose hope.

Today’s affirmation: “I see each challenge in life as a launching pad for creating a wonderful new view of life.”

What would my life be like?

Can you imagine what your life would be like if you were for thirty days to treat every person that you came in contact with, as the most important person on earth.  What do you think would happen?  Do you think that it would be possible for them in turn to treat you the very same way?  Put it to the test, for we have all heard that what goes out, comes back.

Go ahead, do something positive for someone else these next 2 weeks.  Make it a practice to visualize each person to be of great importance.  When ever you think of them or speak to them focus your thoughts on these words, “You are of great importance”.  I look forward to hear what are your results.

Today’s affirmation: “I am of great importance – You are of great importance.”

Today’s thought is titled: Positively Impact the Lives of Others

Thoughts taken from Becoming a Person of Influence by John C. Maxwell and Jim Dornan

“For most people, it’s not what they are that holds them back.  It’s what they think they’re not.  People who have a great deal of self-respect and who believe that they have significance are usually respected and made to feel valued by others.  When you nurture people and add value to them without expecting anything in return, they feel significant.  They realize that they are valued, that they matter to others.  And once they consistently feel positive about themselves, they’re free to live more positively for themselves and others.”

Something can be learned from “the personal effects found on Abraham Lincoln the night he was shot:  a small handkerchief embroidered ‘A. Lincoln’, a country boy’s penknife, a spectacle case repaired with cotton string, a Confederate five-dollar bill, and a worn-out newspaper clipping extolling his accomplishments as president.  It begins, ‘Abe Lincoln is one of the greatest statesmen of all time…’.  Abe Lincoln faced fierce criticism while in office, and it would have been easy for him to become totally discouraged.  That article, worn with repeated reading, undoubtedly helped him during some very difficult times.  It nurtured him and helped him retain his perspective.’

“The key to how you treat people lies in how you think about them.  It’s a matter of attitude.  How you act reveals what you believe.  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe emphasized, ‘Treat a man as he appears to be and you make him worse.  But treat a man as if he already were what he potentially could be, and you make him what he should be.”

Today’s affirmation: “I will treat others, as well as myself, tenderly seeing the potential of who they are”.

  It is my feeling that the one ingredient that is missing in building unity, (more…)

Today’s thought is titled Power from Abrahamic Tests

History records and account three young men, Huntington, Grant, and Kimball, “all only eighteen years of age, who went with the relief party the ‘second thousand miles‘ to help the Martin handcart company.  On this trip they faced a stream that was swollen with ice and snow.  Have you ever walked, even to the knee level, through such water?  The pioneers almost hopelessly stood back, unable to go through in their weakened and emaciated condition.   Those three boys carried every one of the company across and then crossed back, sometimes in water up to their waists.  All three later died from exposure….”

“There are sacrifices. But the prophets again and again insist that we ought to use a different word.  How can it be called a sacrifice to yield up a handful of dust when what is promised is a whole earth?  But we think we know better than God.  We think that what we want for us is greater than what he wants for us.  Then we simply violate the first commandment, which is to love God first and over all.  The moment that pattern is followed he seeks in us the one thing that we do not really want to give up.  No, we do not respond.  Many of us will say that we do not have that kind of faith.  I submit to you that you do not have that kind of faith until you pass that test.”

“Abraham needed to learn something about Abraham.’ what did he learn?  He learned that he did love God unconditionally, (and) that God could now bless him unconditionally.”

Truman G. Madsen, The Highest In Us, p.55

Today’s affirmation: “Through each experience of seeking God’s will,  relinquishing my will,  l I am gaining greater faith”.