WHEN ALL YOUR WISHES COME TRUE

Image yourself at an estate sale exploring the items for sale when you run across a brass oil lamp. Immediately your mind begins to manufacture images of an Arabian young man dressed in ragged clothing rubbing the lamp you have in your hand. The scene is from a cartoon that you have watched many times with your children. The images make you smile, and you think about buying the lamp for no other reason than the fond memories it conjures up.

You finally track down the person to give your money to. You know nothing about the people who are conducting the estate sell, nor do you know the person whose estate it is. You have been able to piece together that the person was a history professor at a nearby university. You marvel at the numerous trinkets that the person has accumulated. The pictures on the wall chronicle a life of travel and numerous acquaintances.

When you get home you take the lamp out of the bag and give it a closer inspection. There is no telling how old it is. The brass is tarnished and in bad need of polishing. Does it have some historical value? Why would an object of historical value be sold so cheap? If the price was any indication, the lamp was nothing but a cheap made-in-China dust collector.

You raise the lid and peek into the interior of the lamp just to make sure the resident genie is not inside. You are a little disappointed to find not even a small wisp of smoke. You think: what would I have wished for if the lamp had contained a genie?

The question is a good one: for all of us. What would you wish for? Would you wish for a large home, or a new car, or all the money in the world, or wish to be a monarch and live in a golden palace, or to be marooned on a desert island with the person of your dreams? Would you wish for all your wishes to come true?

Are you still in touch with your dreams and wishes? Are they real to you, or are they on a shelf somewhere collecting dust? Can you describe the dream? Can you put it or them into words? Can you visualize them?

More important, do you have faith in your dream? Do you believe that it will come true? Do you really want it to come true? Could you handle the consequences that the materialization of your dream would bring?

What if you had the power to make every one of your wishes come true? Wouldn't that reality force you to be careful for what you wished for, knowing every wish that came from your brain would materialize whether good or bad. Wouldn't that ability change the way you think?

The immediate reaction is skepticism. Why? Your disbelief betrays your thinking. You don't believe. You have no faith in yourself or your wish, nor do you have the understanding of how to use the lamp that is between your ears.

THE POWER OF A POSITIVE SELF IMAGE

The most important psychological discovery of the 20th century was the discovery of the “self-image”.  Whether realized or not, each of us carries a mental blueprint or picture of ourselves.  It may be vague and ill defined to our conscious mind, or not even consciously recognizable.  Nevertheless, it is there – complete to the last detail.  This self-image is our concept of “the sort of person I am”.  It has been built from our own beliefs about ourselves.  Most of these beliefs have unconsciously been formed from our past experiences; our successes and failures, humiliations and triumphs, and the way people react to us.

Self-image is the key to human personality and behavior.  Self-image defines the boundaries of individual accomplishment; defines what you can and cannot be; determines the way you think, the way you behave, and the way you perform every activity.

Your self-image is formed by the beliefs held in your sub-conscious mind.  The beliefs comprise a belief system that includes all the beliefs you possess about everything in your life – work, education, family, religion, what you read, write, sing, dance, your parents, dress, speech, etc.

You cannot see your self-image, even though your wear it like a coat.  But everyone sees it.  Behavior and performance is the physical manifestation of self-image; your appearance is a presentation of self-image – hair, clothes, walk, voice inflection, and the world forms its opinion of you primarily from the opinion you have about yourself.  You are responsible for how you are received (accepted) by others.

You must accept responsibility for your self-image.  Self-image is either a catalyst or a brake.  It either propels or holds back.

Self-image is projected by 7% speech, 38% voice (tone inflection), and 55% body language, facial expression, general posture, and body movements.  Your emotional disposition affects all three areas.

Self-esteem is the emotional component of self-image, and is the core of human personality.  It is the most critical element affecting all performance.  Self-esteem is always true to the image you hold in your mind – the person you keep telling yourself you are.  Self-image affects your mental attitude.

Attitude is the habitual manner of acting, feeling, and thinking that shows your dispositions, opinions, and beliefs about life.  Eighty-five percent of accomplishment comes from attitude and 15% is due to aptitude and abilities.  Winners are made, not born.  The winner is in you.  You are responsible for drawing it out.  You already possess the ability to excel in at least one area of your life.

• The dominant force in your existence is the thinking you are engaged in.
• You are empowered to create your own reality.
• There is some benefit in every adversity.
• Each one of your beliefs is a choice.
• You are never defeated until you accept defeat as a reality, and decide to stop trying.
• The only limitations on what you can accomplish in your life are those you impose on yourself.
• There can be no great success without great commitment to a definite purpose fired by a determined desire.
• You need the support and cooperation of other people to achieve any worthwhile goal.
• It should be self-evident that if you harbor any failure thoughts, then all your endeavors will result in failure.
• The rewards you receive in life come as a result of your performance, not your potential. Your self-image determines your performance.
• There is never a storm so violent that it is not followed by the sunlight.
• Things turn out best for those who make the best of the way things turn out.

Our physical actions are simply the outward manifestation of our inner thoughts.  This recognizes the universal truth that we are and will become that which dominates your thoughts.  People have in their lives today exactly what they keep telling their mind they want.  All that you accomplish, or fail to accomplish, in life is a direct result of the images you hold in your mind. 
           
Do you limit your actions to have no more success than you unknowingly believe you deserve and are comfortable?  We often get the results we subconsciously believe we deserve.  Our self-image defines our comfort zone.

What do you really believe?  Do your actions show you believe you deserve better in every area of your life?  If they do not why not?  Is it possible that the world we live in encourages us to deny better?  It is not a matter of doing better than others do.  It is a matter of doing better in the present and the future than what we have done in the past and in the present.  Old programming of self-defeat or self-limits must be purged, and new programming put in its place.   Do not drive with the parking brake on!

A positive, strong affirmed self-image is vital to realizing the power locked inside your mind.  Self-image is a key component in building belief.  What we do mirrors what we believe.  If you passionately believe in something, you will be compelled to make it happen.

A healthy self-image is the difference between thinking BIG and thinking small.  Self-image acts as either a multiplying or a dividing factor, and combines with other key factors of success you possess to produce performance.

We always create a self-image according to the basic beliefs we have about our abilities, the world, and ourselves.  The beliefs are based on conscious decisions we made about ourselves and what we are capable of achieving.  The decisions are repeated to our subconscious.

Become more aware of your inner communications – what you see and say to yourself because of daily events and work to control it.  From these experiences, the mind constructs a picture of who we are.  Once an idea or belief about ourselves goes into this picture, it becomes “true” as far as we personally are concerned.  We do not question its validity, but the subconscious mind begins to act on it just as if it were true.  A human being always acts, feels, and performs in accordance with what he images to be true about himself and his environment.

The self-image is important for two reasons:

1.  All your actions, feelings, behavior – even your abilities – are always consistent with this self-image.  You will act like the sort of person you conceive yourself to be.  The self-image is the foundation upon which your entire personality rests.
2. The self-image is changeable.  One is never too old or too young to change their self-image.

Self-image determines Self-worth.  Time valuation is part of self-worth.  Self-image is the determination of the value you place on what you do and what compensation you receive from life, and how prosperous you become.

At least ninety-five percent of people have their lives blighted by feelings of inferiority to some extent, and feelings of serious inferiority handicap millions.

Feelings of inferiority originate from inaccurate thinking that produces negative conclusions drawn from evaluation of facts and experiences.  We judge ourselves and measure ourselves, not against our own norm, but against some other individual’s norm.  We let someone else define our reality.  We conclude that we are not worthy and do not deserve success and happiness.

• Laziness and hypochondria are indications of undervalued self worth.
• Things turn out best for those that make the best of the way things turn out.

Self-image influences our actions.  If the image is changed, actions will also change.  Repetitive actions build habits.  Habits are stored on the sub-conscious level of the brain.  Habits are behavior programming that motivates our actions in ways we are oblivious to.  Habits are familiar territory – the comfort zone.   Habits are the landscape of our reality.  They are landmarks that steer the conscious mind.  Ninety-five percent of our behavior, feeling, and response is habitual.

Modify, change, or reverse behavior (habits) by simply making a conscious decision, and then practicing or acting out the new behavior with constant watchfulness and practice until the new behavior pattern is thoroughly learned in 21 days.

Self –image is realized in identity.  Identity is the image we have of ourselves. Israel identifies itself with the temple in Jerusalem.  Christians identify themselves with the cross.  Companies have a brand or logo that identifies them.  Think about your identity.  Who are you?  How do you see yourself? Can you describe yourself with only a few words?

We are all unique, unrepeatable, miracles of God, and we should live our lives in that realization.  There will never be another person like you.  It is that uniqueness that gives life value. We should revel in the knowledge that we are one-of-a-kind – not regret it, or accept someone else’s opinion of us as superior to our own opinion.  It is self-image that controls our reaction to external stimulus.

Do you limit your actions to have not more than the success you unknowingly believe you deserve and are comfortable with?  We often get the results we subconsciously believe we deserve.

What do you really believe?  Do your actions show you believe you deserve better in every area of your life?  Is it possible that the world we grew up in encourages us to deny better?  It is not a matter of doing better than others do. It is a matter of doing better in the present and the future that we have done in the past.  The old programming of self-defeat or self-limits must be purged, and new programming put in its place.  We must learn to drive without the parking brake on.

What we believe is reflected in what we do.  We choose what we believe.  We are responsible for what we believe.  We are in charge of what to believe and not to believe.  The reality of life is made up of beliefs, and life is nothing until we decide what we believe.

I PROMISE

I promise to be so strong that nothing can disturb my peace of mind;

To talk health, happiness, and prosperity to everyone I meet;

To make everyone around me feel there is something special in them;

To think only the best;

To work only for the best;

To expect only the best;

To be just as concerned about my fellow man as I am about myself;

To forgive and forget the mistakes of the past and to seek God's guidance toward the greater achievement of the future;

To wear a cheerful countenance at all times and give a smile to everyone I meet;

To give so much time to the improvement of myself that I have no time to critize others;

To be too large for for worry, too noble for anger, and too happy to permit the presence of trouble.

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE WORTH?

Is your life on track to be what you want to be, or have you settled for what you have now?

Consider this:

“I bargained with Life for a penny,

And life would pay no more,

However I begged at evening

When I counted my scanty store.

“For Life is a just employer,

He gives you what you ask,

But once you have set the wages,

Why you must bear the task.

“I worked for a menial’s hire,

Only to learn dismayed,

That any wage I had asked of Life,

Life would have willingly paid.”

Your mental attitude is what determines your station in Life.  You are responsible for the mental attitude that resides in your mind.  Belief is what powers your mind.  If you believe that you cannot go any further you won’t.  The world is in constant state of creation and destruction.  If you stop where you are then you have decided to assume a defensive position, and have decided to participate in the destruction of what you are and what you have.  Defense is a waiting game.  It is a negative position that begins producing loss the moment you take up the position.  You have in effect said to Life, “I give you permission to take everything I have.”

If I accept whatever job I can find at whatever pay the employer says he will pay, then I will be planted in that job for however long it lasts because I have no purposeful plan for my life.  The job will hold no satisfaction for me and I will have to struggle with the difficulties without the benefit of a purpose, and will become bitter in the process.  I will have no enthusiasm for the job and my performance will show it

Is my life worth only what my employer pays me?  If I agree to work for him then that is exactly my belief.  And I will reap the consequences of my belief.

Your reward in life is based on the value you place on yourself. And that valuation comes from your beliefs about what you deserve.

FAITH AS HEAD CHEMIST

Faith is the head chemist of the mind.  When faith is blended with thought (creative visualization), the subconscious mind instantly picks up the vibration, translate it into its spiritual impulse, and transmit to God – as in prayer.

The emotions of faith, love, and sex are the most powerful of all the major positive emotions.  When thoughts are blended with strong emotion the thoughts are energized and instantly reach the subconscious mind and changed to spiritual impulse.

Faith is the state of mind that can be induced, or created by repetition of affirmations (conscious programming of the subconscious mind).

It is essential for you to encourage the positive emotions as dominating forces of your mind and eliminate negative emotions.   A mind dominated by positive emotions becomes a favorable abode for faith.   A positive mind can give the subconscious mind instructions.

Achievement is measured by the faith expressed in connection with aims and purposes.  There must be belief that the thing will be possessed and actions affirming that the thing is already possessed.

The imagination must be disciplined to the point that it can return a detailed image of what is wanted and a detailed plan of how to achieve it.  There must be a Definite Purpose.

An undisciplined imagination returns unusable images.  An unpracticed imagination cannot see the image.  Imagination is triggered by faith.   Faith abides in a positive mind that is free from all negatives such as fear, envy, greed, hatred, jealousy, ad superstition.

There are no limitations to the mind except those we acknowledge.

There is a great difference between wishing for something and being ready to receive it.  No one is ready for a thing until there is belief that the thing can be acquired.  The state of mind must be belief, not mere hope or wish.  It must be a burning, white-hot, sell-everything-I-own-to-have-it belief.

Open mindedness is essential for belief.  Closed minds do not inspire faith or courage or belief.

The right word is desire.  There is nothing which belief plus burning desire cannot make real.  These attributes are free to everyone.

There is a great crisis of belief in the lives of those who succeed when they are introduced to their “other side”.

Prosperity begins in the form of thought (creative visualization).

The amount of prosperity (blessing) is limited only by the amount of belief of the person whose mind the thought is put into.

Faith removes limitations (lack).

Remember this when you are ready to bargain with Life for whatever it is that you ask as your price for having passed this way.

The level of your belief or faith is the element that determines the action of your subconscious mind.

The Parable of the growing seed.   Mark 4:26 – 29.

Developing Faith

Faith can be developed or increased by speaking positive affirmations.  Affirmations are in the form of praises, thanksgiving, adoration, love, encouragement, and/or confessing trust or confidence in an outcome.

Repetition of affirmation of orders to your subconscious mind is the only known method of voluntary development of the emotion of faith.

Meaning: Delivering conscious thoughts mixed with positive emotion to your subconscious mind are used to program the subconscious mind to construct the emotion of faith.