Be Blind To Failure

"He who cherishes a beautiful vision, a lofty ideal in his heart, will
one day realise it" - James Allen

"There was an incredible story in the June 18, 2001 issue of Time
magazine about Erik Weihenmayer who had recently climbed Mt. Everest.

Now there's been quite a few people that have climbed the worlds
highest summit since Sir Edmund Hillary first did in 1953. But no one
had ever climbed Mt. Everest that was blind, until Erik Weihenmayer did.

What's even more amazing is that on September 5, 2002 he reached the
top of Mt. Kosciusko, the highest peak in Australia. That made Erik
the first blind climber to reach the top of the traditional Seven
Summits, the most challenging peaks in the world.

Erik can't see like the most of us can, but he knows, like James Allen
knew, that if we settle for what we can see today, we'll never live
the life of our dreams. We have to have a vision for our life, for
what we want to become. Most importantly, we have to cherish it and
hold on tightly to it when circumstances are telling us that we'll
never see our vision.

If you read Erik's story you'll discover that Erik stumbled into the
Camp on the first floor of Mt. Everest bloodied, sick and dehydrated.
And he was still 9000 feet (almost two miles) from the summit. But
Erik had cherished and lived with his vision for years and would not
be denied. Like the tittle of the story says, Erik was "Blind to
Failure".

The ancient writer tells us in Proverbs that "Without a vision, the
people perish". So we must take the time to determine the vision for
our life. But once we've settled on our vision, then it's important
that we take James Allen's advice to cherish it in our heart. " - Vic
Johnson

"Success is not just the crowning moment, the spiking of the ball in
the end zone or the raising of the flag on the summit. It is the whole
process of reaching for a goal and, sometimes, it begins with
failure." - Erik Weihenmayer

And that's worth thinking about...

JW

Sent from my iPhone

Good Thoughts Bear Good Fruit...

"Every thought-seed sown or allowed to fall into the mind, and to take
root there, produces it's own, blossoming sooner or later into act,
and bearing it's own fruitage of opportunity and circumstance. Good
thoughts bear good fruit, bad thoughts bad fruit." - James Allen

"Are you thinking about what you're thinking about??" - Mark Shearon

"Most people give very little thought to what occupies their thinking
and even fewer people understand that "good thoughts bear good fruit,
bad thoughts, bad fruit". Most of us understand the law of sowing and
reaping in other aspects of life, but we fail to understand that this
same law is just as potent when our thoughts are involved." - Vic
Johnson

A June 1997 story in the Wall Street Journal said that HMOs reported
that as much as 70% of all visits to a primary care physician are for
a psychosomatic illness -- a disorder that involves both mind and
body. According to Dr. David Sobel, a primary care physician and
author of the highly respected Mind-Body Health Newsletter, only 16%
of people who visit their physician for common maladies like nausea,
headache and stomach upset are diagnosed with a physical, organic
cause. That means that a whopping 84% are suffering from an illness
that originated in THOUGHT!

These statistics tell us that the majority of people literally think
their way to sickness.

"If you've never trained yourself in "right thinking", I challenge you
to spend today monitoring and recording your thoughts. If you
understand the power of thought in your life, at the end of the day
you won't be surprised at why your life is where it's at today, be it
good or bad." - Vic Johnson

"The more you think about lack, bad times, etc..., the worse will your
business be; and the more you think of prosperity, abundance, and
success, the more of these things will you bring into your life.

The more you think about your grievences or the injustaces that you
have suffered, the more such trials will you continue to receive; and
the more you think of the good fortune you have had, the more good
fortune will come to you." - Emmet Fox

And that's worth thinking about...

Sent from my iPhone

Definitely Directed Thought...

"All achievements, whether in business, intellectual, or spiritual
world, are the result of definitely directed thought." - James Allen

"How many times have you heard the expression that most people spend
more time planning their vacation than they do planning their life. I
would expand that expression by adding that most people spend more
time "thinking" about their vacation than they do thinking about
what's important in their life." - Vic Johnson

"The "power of definitely directed thought" (the power of purpose) is
why I love the story of John Goddard so much. When he was 15 years
old, Goddard was inspired to create a list of 127 "life goals". By one
count, the "young seventy-something" has accomplished 109 of these
PLUS 300 others be set along the way!!

Here is just a few of the ones he's reached:

He climbed the Matterhorn, Ararat, Kilimanjaro, Fiji, Rainier and the
Grand Tetons.

He retraced the route of Marco Polo through all of the middle east,
Asia and China and was the first man to explore the whole length of
the worlds longest river, the Nile. He also boated down the Amazon,
Congo and others.

He has been to 120 countries, explored the under water reefs of
Florida, the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, the Red Sea, visited the
Great Wall of China, the Okefenokee swamp in Georgia, and the
Everglades in Florida.

He has flown 47 different types of aircraft, and set several civillian
air speed records including one at 1500 miles an hour. He flew a F-106
to an altitude of 63000 feet, making him the only civilian to pilot an
aircraft that high, a record which he still holds.

And I am just getting started. But I think you get the point.

Okay, maybe it's been a while since you were 15, and maybe coming up
with 127 life goals is a bit intimidating at this point. But how about
10? How much would the quality of your life improve if you
accomplished just one life goal in each of the next ten years?

You won't ever know if you don't start now -- and if you don't WRITE
them down." - Vic Johnson

"If you really know what you want out of life, it's amazing how
opportunities will come to enable you to carry them out." - John Goddard

And that's worth thinking about...

JW

Sent from my iPhone

Persist until...

"Great is the heartfelt joy when, after innumerable and apparently
unsuccessful attempts, some ingrained fault of character is at last
cast out to trouble it's erstwhile victim and the world no more." -
James Allen

"If I had to pick one character trait that I think is a "must have" in
order to be successful in any endeavor, it would be persistence. In
fact, it seems to be the one trait that is the dominent trait in every
single, super-successful individual I know. I believe it to be the one
trait that any ordinary person can use to become extraordinary." - Vic
Johnson

"The only thing that was different about Henry Ford and Thomas Edison
was their persistence." - Napoleon Hill

"If your head is hanging low today as mine has done on many a day, I
hope you'll find encouragement to know that you really only need to do
one thing at this point --- PERSIST. And that means taking just one
step in the right direction --- even a half step in the right
direction." - Vic Johnson

And that's worth thinking about...

JW

Sent from my iPhone

Master your fears...

"Doubt and fear are the great enemies of knowledge, and he who
encourages them, who does not slay them, thwarts himself at every
step." - James Allen

"I've heard it said that we're born with only a few fears - like the
fear of falling and the fear of loud noises. All other fears we learn
along the way. Like the fear of failure, fear of rejection - even a
fear of success. I believe our greatest enemy in life is fear, because
fear keeps us from doing many of those things we would like to do that
would make our life more complete and more enjoyable." -Vic Johnson

"Doubt is the first cousin of fear and precedes it. We weren't born
with doubt. Our habbit of doubt has grown throughout our life. If we
dwell on a doubt and give into it, it then grows into fear." - Vic
Johnson

"A doubtful mind will be as unsettled as the wave of the sea that is
tossed and driven by the wind; and every decision you then make will
be uncertain, as you turn first this way, and then that." - The
Apostle James

Doubt makes us ineffective...

"If most of our fears and all of our doubts are learned along the way,
then we can "unlearn" them by becoming masters of our thoughts." - Vic
Johnson

"True courage is not the absence of fear, it's the mastery of fear." -
Mark Twain

"The people who live the life of their dreams have just as many fears
as those who live miserable, unfulfilled lives - they have just
learned to master their fears instead of allowing their fears to
master them." - Vic Johnson

"You can cancel out fear with faith. For there is no force in this
world more powerful than faith. The most amazing things can happen as
a result of it... There are two massive thought forces competing for
control of the mind: fear and faith, and faith is stronger, much
stronger. Hold that thought of faith's greater power until you believe
it, for it can be the difference between success and failure." -
Norman Vincent (You can if you think you can)

"Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgement that
something else is more important than fear." - Ambrose Redmoon

"Everyone is afraid at some point or another. Those who succeed in
conquering fear have put their focus on what's important to them
rather than on the fear. If your young child darted across the street
in front of traffic, you'd easily overcome the fear of any physical
danger that retrieving the child would pose. The child's life is more
important to you than the fear. So focus on what's beyond the fear -
what's on the other side - when you overcome the fear." - Vic Johnson

"Dont wonder wether something is possible - don't get bogged down in
WHETHER. Ask HOW. Over and over if you have to, but ask how can you do
it, not whether you can." - Brian Tracy

And that's worth thinking about...

JW

Sent from my iPhone

Dreams are Magic Sparks...

"Dreams are the seedlings of realities." - James Allen

"Look slowly arround you. All that you see at this moment was one
dream but someone's dream - a "seedling of the reality" it was to
become, In our lifetime we have benefited greatly from the dreams of
so many.

Mandela, Mother Teresa, Einstein, Gandhi, Speilberg, Disney, Gates,
and the list could go on and on --- all began with a dream. Who could
forget one of the most powerful speeches of all time by Dr. Martin
Luther King, I Have a Dream. While we havent become a colour-blind
society we should be, go back and read the speech and see how far
we've come since Dr. King first spoke those "seedlings" into reality.

So maybe you dont see yourself as a Mandela or Mother Teresa. But if
you havent already discovered it, deep inside you there is a dream. It
was put there by the one who created you, as we are told in Jeremiah
29:11, "For I know the plans I have for you, plans to give you hope
and a future".- Vic Johnson

"On a regular basis, take time to imagine the very best that life can
be. Step aside for a moment from the day to day concerns of life. Re-
establish contact with your highest goals and most treasured dreams.
Remind yourself of the beautiful possibilities that life holds for
you. Renew your determination to bring them to fruition."

"Spend some quality time with your dreams. They are real to the extent
that you value them. To the extent that you commit to them and work
for them, they will come true." - Ralph Marston

"There's so much strength in all of us, every woman, child and man,
it's the moment that you think you can't you'll discover that you
can." - Celine Dion

And that's worth thinking about...

Harmonising one's thoughts...

"A person is the causer (though nearly always unconciously) of his circumstances, and that, whilst aiming at the good end, he is continually frustrating it's accomplishment by encouraging thoughts and desires which cannot possibly harmonise with that end." - James Allen

One of the examples James Allen uses to support this philosophy is a rich man who is the victim of a painful and persistent disease as the result of gluttony. He's willing to give large sums of money to get rid of the disease and he fully expects that will be the cure. Unfortunatly, he never addresses the glutonous desire that is the cause of his condition. He can never achieve good health because his desires are not in harmony with the good health he seeks, regardless of the money he spends.

We cannot change our circumstances without first changing our thoughts to harmonise with the circumstances we want. To think otherwise is just as foolish as the gluttonous rich man.

"You'll see it when you believe it" - Wayne Dyer

"Work each day on your thoughts rather than concentrating on your behaviour. It is your thinking that creates the feelings you have and ultimately your actions as well." - Wayne Dyer

And that's worth thinking about...

Focus on the solution not the problem... Focus on ideas!

"No person can be confronted with a difficulty which he has not the strength to meet and subdue... Every difficulty can be overcome if rightly dealt with; anxiety is, therefore, unnecessary. The task which cannot be overcome ceases to be a difficulty and becomes an impossibility... And there is only one way of dealing with an impossibility - namely submit to it" - James Allen

"There is no problem that we should be anxious about. We can either solve it or it's impossible to solve." - Vic Johnson

"God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; the courage to change the things I can; and the wisdom to know the difference." - The Serenity Prayer

"There is also another great reason not to be anxious about the difficulty your facing today - it contains a lesson! And once you master it, you will be much stronger and wiser." - Vic Johnson

"It is the law that any difficulties that can come at any time, no matter what they are, must be exactly what you need most at the moment, to enable you to take the next step forward by overcoming them. The only real misfortune, the only real tradgedy, comes when we suffer without learning the lesson." - Emmet Fox

And that's worth thinking about...

Every circumstance has two sides...

"Your difficulty is not contained, primarily, in the situation which gave rise to it, but in the mental state with which you regard that situation and which you bring to bear upon it" - James Allen

"Circumstances are not negative or positive, circumstances are neutral. It is our thinking, that makes a circumstance positive or negative." - Vic Johnson

"Everything in the universe has it's opposite. There would be no inside to a room without an outside. You have a right and left side to your body, a front and a back. Every up has a down and every down has an up. The law of polarity not only states that everything has an opposite - it is equal and opposite. If it was three feet from the floor up to the table, it would be three feet from the table down to the floor. If it is 150 miles from Manchester to London, by law it must be 150 miles from London to Manchester; it could not be any other way." - Bob Proctor

"If something you considered bad happens in your life, there has to be something good about it. If it was only a little bad, when you mentally work your way around to the other side, you will find it will only be a little good" - Bob Proctor

"While the flat tire you have seems to be a negative circumstance to you, it's  a very positive circumstance for your local tire dealer. Looking even further it's possible that while changing the tire the dealer discovers a much more serious problem that would have cost you a large sum if money if discovered later." - Randy Gage

"Its the way we view a circumstance that determines it's impact on our thinking and mental state....this determines the quality of life that we live." - Vic Johnson

"Every adversity, every failure and every heartache carries with it the seed of an equivalent or greater benefit." - Napoleon Hill

And that's worth thinking about....