I recently read a post by a dear friend on rekindling our dreams and retaking forgotten goals and aspirations and I was inspired by its message. Picking your dreams back up and reigniting the initial drive you had toward fulfilling them, takes as this post pointed out, a decision to weed out all that has held you back and to retry, as many times as it takes, and in as many ways as you can, to make it work. It also takes a commitment to make a serious inventory of your belief system and to identify and overcome the Goliaths in your mind.
Many of us are dominated by ideas and ways of thinking and making inferences about ourselves and the world, of which we are frequently unaware. These belief systems for the most part, are acquired sometime in our pasts, often as early as childhood, and they become part of the messages we tell ourselves on a daily basis, determining how capable or incapable, how successful or unsuccessful we feel, regardless of the circumstances surrounding us. A smiling face can be perceived as sarcastic and threatening by some while by others it can be viewed as a reflection of a friendly and inviting attitude. The same way a temporary obstacle can be seen as an insurmountable and long-lasting set-back, or as a challenge that when overcome can make us more efficacious and productive.
Renewing our understanding and our minds, as biblical scripture calls us to do, is then a necessity if we want to not just live “successful lives”, but be able to appreciate this success and deal with the challenges that life inevitably brings along in our professions, in our business, in our families, etc. Learning to identify, challenge and defeat the giants of our minds may give us the key to confronting feelings of low self worth, disbelief and fear. It can also free us from the tendency to control others or situations that are beyond our grasp. This, in turn, can help us move toward the fulfillment of those dreams we once felt so driven toward, while embracing life’s challenges, learning from our setbacks, and enjoying and being thankful for our successes.
Thus the question becomes: What are the goliaths in my mind?
· Do I see a failing grade as failing career or a slow day as a deteriorating business?
· Do I think in absolutes “never”, “always”, etc.?
· Do I minimize my accomplishments and blessings (“any one could have gotten that”)?
· Do I maximize my obstacles (“that is impossible”, “no one can rise up from that”)?
· Do I see in black and white (“a successful person never fails”)?
The good news is that we have the God given power if not to change or renew our minds right away, to at least make a daily commitment to identify and take captive messages liked these, and eventually replace them. Some people recommend beginning to count our blessings as a remedy to this malady. I however, wonder, whether instead of just counting our blessings, we can instead begin to plan our daily blessings so we can be on the lookout for them: for the lady behind the counter that smiles at us, or the nice comment from the boss, or the new client that enters your business or just walks by it and notices it, or the extra hour you could sleep today, because your baby did not cry as much. I challenge us to: “Defeat the Giants of our Mind and Plan Ahead our Blessings for Today”
Many of us are dominated by ideas and ways of thinking and making inferences about ourselves and the world, of which we are frequently unaware. These belief systems for the most part, are acquired sometime in our pasts, often as early as childhood, and they become part of the messages we tell ourselves on a daily basis, determining how capable or incapable, how successful or unsuccessful we feel, regardless of the circumstances surrounding us. A smiling face can be perceived as sarcastic and threatening by some while by others it can be viewed as a reflection of a friendly and inviting attitude. The same way a temporary obstacle can be seen as an insurmountable and long-lasting set-back, or as a challenge that when overcome can make us more efficacious and productive.
Renewing our understanding and our minds, as biblical scripture calls us to do, is then a necessity if we want to not just live “successful lives”, but be able to appreciate this success and deal with the challenges that life inevitably brings along in our professions, in our business, in our families, etc. Learning to identify, challenge and defeat the giants of our minds may give us the key to confronting feelings of low self worth, disbelief and fear. It can also free us from the tendency to control others or situations that are beyond our grasp. This, in turn, can help us move toward the fulfillment of those dreams we once felt so driven toward, while embracing life’s challenges, learning from our setbacks, and enjoying and being thankful for our successes.
Thus the question becomes: What are the goliaths in my mind?
· Do I see a failing grade as failing career or a slow day as a deteriorating business?
· Do I think in absolutes “never”, “always”, etc.?
· Do I minimize my accomplishments and blessings (“any one could have gotten that”)?
· Do I maximize my obstacles (“that is impossible”, “no one can rise up from that”)?
· Do I see in black and white (“a successful person never fails”)?
The good news is that we have the God given power if not to change or renew our minds right away, to at least make a daily commitment to identify and take captive messages liked these, and eventually replace them. Some people recommend beginning to count our blessings as a remedy to this malady. I however, wonder, whether instead of just counting our blessings, we can instead begin to plan our daily blessings so we can be on the lookout for them: for the lady behind the counter that smiles at us, or the nice comment from the boss, or the new client that enters your business or just walks by it and notices it, or the extra hour you could sleep today, because your baby did not cry as much. I challenge us to: “Defeat the Giants of our Mind and Plan Ahead our Blessings for Today”
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