Tuesday's Thought

Slippery fingers pushed 'enter' a couple of times while putting this post together and it posted with nothing in the content....grrrr! Anyway, here's this week's REAL thought:


Courage
“Climbing with Courage”
--Alexander Lockhart
Courage, contrary to popular belief, is not the absence of fear, but the heart to act in spite of fear. It is doing what you’re afraid to do, taking risks, and growing bigger through strength and confidence when the odds look like they may be against you. Courage enables you to accept opposition and then guides you with determination to conquer it. By discovering specific fears that are inhibiting the growth of your full potential, you can then develop the courage to manage these fears and direct your choices in life with decisions which enhance your well being.
Sometimes before we begin to reach high and climb toward our dreams we often look back at a time when we may have experienced a setback and fallen backward. It then becomes hard for us to bring forth the courage to continue. As you encounter challenges in your life, they may seem as hard to overcome as climbing a mountain, but if you persist, you will learn and grow from them and develop the courage to continue forward.
Once, a team of mountain climbers set out on an expedition to try to conquer Mount Everest. The first attempt failed, as did the second. Then, on their third attempt, despite careful planning and extensive safety precautions, disaster struck. An avalanche hit, and most of the team was injured. A few weeks later, a group held a glorious banquet to salute the team for their great act of courage and their attempts at greatness. As the leader of the failed expedition stood to address the group, he walked over to face a huge picture of Mount Everest which hung like a silent unconquerable giant behind the banquet table. He then made a fist and pointed to the picture and said, “Mount Everest, you defeated us once; you defeated us twice; you defeated us three times. But, Mount Everest, we shall someday defeat you, because you can’t get any bigger but we can.”
Courage is the mastery over fear. It is not allowing fear to take over and control our lives. Courage means persevering when life has dealt you a seemingly losing hand. It is turning your crisis into an opportunity. Each time you are willing to face your fears, you are summoning the courage to rise above disappointments, take risks, and grow stronger. Dare to dream big and awaken the courage within yourself to face adversity and to go forth with your desires. With courage your fears can’t get any bigger, but you can!

Tuesday's Thought

Motivation
--By Alexander Lockhart

A wealthy businessman hosted a spectacular party in which he had filled his swimming pool with sharks, barracuda, and other assorted dangerous fish. He then announced to his guests that he would like to challenge any one of them to try swimming across the pool, and he would offer a first prize of either a new home in the mountains, a trip around the world, or the position as president in his company. No sooner had he made the announcement there was a large splash in the water and a man swam rapidly across the infested waters and leaped out on the other side. The millionaire approached the dripping man and said, “that was a stunning performance. What prize do you want?” The swimmer caught his breath and then replied, “Right now I really don’t care about the prize. I just want to find out who the person was that pushed me in!”
Many times when we feel discouraged we need a little push to get us moving. We often depend on exterior motivators to get us started. But the push, in order to have a last effect, must generate from within. If you want to be successful each day of your life, then you must be motivated from within yourself.
Self-motivation gives you the power to push forward in your endeavors and break through the walls of adversity. It is the fuel and driving force which propels you in a forward motion toward your goals. Motivation is what gets us going and keeps us trying. The word motivation is defined as, “to provide with a motive.” Motive can be defined as, “something (as in a need or desire) that incites a person to act; moving to action.” Every action that you take can usually be traced back to some definite motive or combination of motives. No action can be taken without first being motivated to do so. The feeling of motivation comes from knowing where you want to go and having the will and perseverance to get there. Once you clearly define an objective, you must develop inside of yourself a strong, unrelenting desire for its attainment. You must magnify an intense determination within yourself and develop the self-confidence that will direct your actions toward the realization of your desires.
For self-motivation to be effective you must internalize your desire through visualization and affirmation techniques. Effective visualization is a vivid mental picture of you having already achieved your goal. The reason this technique is so powerful is this: Your unconscious mind cannot tell the difference between a perceived event, feeling, or thought that is real and one that is imagined. As you project this mental image in your mind, your unconscious mind then brings forth the desire and actions that will be in harmony with that mental picture. If you can effectively visualize yourself already reaching a goal you will then generate the determination and motivation to move forward toward the reality of achievement.
Start today and turn your motivation into ‘wantivation’ to excel in every area of your life. As the philosopher Socrates once reminded us, “A man who would move the world must first move himself.”

Tuesday's Thought

AMBITION:
What one great thing would you aspire to do if you knew you could not fail? Why is it that many of us are content with so little? Why not reach out for something big! Many times when we set out to be, have, or do something, we allow external forces to question our ability. More often, it is our own self-limiting beliefs. We all aspire to achieve our dreams but we are often afraid and begin to question our ability to accomplish what may seem impossible. You must begin immediately to create and reinforce your belief in action. Eliminate doubt, despair, and other limitations from your mind. Every high aspiration is an intimation of possible achievement. You are given the power to dream and you are also given the power to make those dreams come true.
One day, quite by accident, a farmer found an eagle’s egg lying on the ground. Not knowing it was an eagle’s egg, he carried it to his chicken coop and placed it beside some eggs in a hen’s nest. The hen, not knowing the difference, covered the egg with her wings and protected it through its incubation period. Soon, the eagle hatched among a brood of domestic chickens. As it grew up it mimicked the actions of the chickens. It leaned to cluck, scratch, and bob when it walked. It flapped its wings to fly only a few feet in the air. It ate seeds and insects and had no reason to believe it was not a chicken. One day the little eagle looked up in the sky and saw the most majestic creature it had ever seen soaring in wide circles. “What is that?” the little eagle asked in awe. “That,” said a nearby chicken, “is an eagle, the greatest of all birds.” “That’s what I want to be!” exclaimed the eagle. “You’re crazy,” exclaimed the domestic hen. “You can’t be an eagle. You’re a chicken.” So, the little eagle hung its head and began scratching the ground. “I guess you’re right.”
For its whole life the eagle continued living among the chickens, not knowing what kind of potential it had, not knowing it was born to soar. It never tried to fly higher than a few feet or eat different food. He was convinced that anything else was impossible. And when the eagle died, it died a chicken.
Use your ambition to rise above mediocrity. Dream what you dare to dream, do what you dare to do, and be what you dare to be. You were born to soar higher and higher toward great achievement. Don’t allow ‘chicken thinking’ to hold you back from pursuing your dreams. You can never soar among the eagles if you continue scratching and thinking like a chicken. –Alexander Lockhart.