Think of Prosperity

Summer traditionally in Ontario is over. The leaves are beginning to change colour and the farmers are harvesting their crops. The nights are cooler which makes easy sleeping. During the day though we are experiencing warm breezy weather telling me that summer is surely still with us.

This time of year brings new life to me as it should to all. We can reflect and give gratitude to the wonderful summer we had. Take stock of the goals we had set and accomplished or not. Do not trouble yourself if you have been unable to accomplish your goals.

Re-evaluate. Re-think. Re-set.

With just three months left in 2007 it is a wonderful time to set a goal to be in your hands by the end of the year. Reread S.M.A.R.T GOALS and set a new one today. Think about what Andy Andrews told us in The Traveler’s Gift and The Seven Decisions before you set your goal. Without a clear and defined mind your goals are going to be scattered and seem unreachable.

The more belief you have that your goal is already in your possession, the less time it will take to achieve. You cannot just “wish”, you must have a burning desire in your core that will propel you to your goal.

I have set new goals. Some are small, some our so huge, I have no idea how they will transform into my life. I do have though that burning desire. I can feel the earth beneath my feet and smell the fresh cut wood of my new house! The more I visualize the closer it becomes.

If you do not have a goal, how will you ever know if you can accomplish it? Grab a blank piece of paper right now and start to write. Write them down on some old business cards that you have tucked away somewhere. Look at your goal cards as often as you can during the day – especially first thing in the morning and just before you go to bed. Dream your goals.

I receive many emails during the course of the day and the one I open and read first is a message from Bob Proctor called “Insight of the Day”. They vary from a few words of wisdom to short stories gathered from around the world. Today, I and countless others received a short story that puts together all the Seven Decisions from Andy Andrews discussed in my previous posts and the belief in oneself that one day you will obtain your goal.

The story touched my heart. We often get sidetracked as I have done this week. I let circumstances around me control my journey and purpose. The story put me on track again and restored by belief. Once again I was reminded that I control my future through my determined effort and belief. I share this story with you in the hope that it will also touch your heart and you will move forward in your journey with as much determined effort as David.

Record Faith

I couldn’t believe what I had just heard! Hands cupped around his mouth so his words wouldn’t travel to the ears of eavesdroppers, and flipping his head from shoulder to shoulder to ensure no one would be privy to his divulgence, David repeated his whispered announcement, “I have $500 saved.”

This wouldn’t be such a shock if it weren’t for the fact that David is a mentally challenged adult. Where on earth did he get that kind of money? He pulled me aside and answered my unspoken question, so excited that his words tumbled pell mell of his lips, faster and faster until I could barely keep up with his stream of consciousness. Eventually I got the gist of his monologue.

When he was a little boy he had made weekly trips with his mother to a local department store. He was mesmerized by the window displays and eagerly stood with his nose pressed against the glass until his breath clouded his view. Then came the display which would change his and many other lives 30 years later. It was a Victor Five Victrola, the kind that needed to be wound by hand before placing the needle on the record, the machine which bore the symbol of a black and white dog, ear cocked to its side. Not missing a beat, he expounded on a history lesson about Columbia Records and their music machines, information gleaned from his trips to the library. There was nothing he didn’t know about that golden age of music.

His mother died, and he eventually was able to live independently, supervised by an agency. It was through the agency that he obtained work, cleaning toilets of public facilities five nights a week. Every week he squirreled away his paycheck, never forgetting the Victrola. He was on a mission to find and buy a phonograph like the one he had once admired through plate glass.

Visibly exhausted from revealing his secret, David paused long enough to pull out a tattered Polaroid photo from his back pocket. He lovingly waved it in front of my eyes and proclaimed, “There it is! Victor Five!” He had found the object of his desire exhibited at a museum and had been faithfully visiting it every chance he could get. The colored piece of paper was a constant reminder of his goal.

I tucked away his confession into the back of my mind, only to dust it off when I wandered into one of my favorite antique shops a few months later. In the back of the shop, tacked in the corner of a bulletin board over the owner’s desk, was a Polaroid picture just like the one David had shown me. I hastily inquired as to why it was there and unknowingly opened the door to a personal witnessing of the triumph of the human spirit.

David had gone to every antique shop in the city and had left a picture of his beloved Victrola with each of the shopkeepers. If any one of them was to come across a Victor Five, he wanted to buy it. Rain or shine, the owner at Century Antiques counted on David to stop at his Waterbury store at least twice a month to check on the success of his quest. He hadn’t put any effort into looking because he honestly didn’t think David had the money for such an expensive piece. After all, David was, well, not “like us.” Didn’t he know that it was next to impossible to find that particular antique? But, being a kindhearted soul, the dealer had taken a liking to David and posted his Polaroid.

I commanded him to take the mission seriously. If David was short the required amount for the purchase, I knew it wouldn’t be impossible to find enough people to chip in to make up the difference. There was a core group of people in our church who were fond of him and would dig into their pockets to help him reach his goal.

It took some time, but the antique shop came through with flying colors. For months, the owner’s son, Chip, had made phone call after phone call in the tri-state area and eventually struck it rich. A Victor Five had been found! He personally drove to the source, brought the machine back to his shop, and called me with the news. “I can’t believe it. It’s a miracle that I found one in such beautiful shape, or that I found one at all!”

The cost to David? Not a nickel more than what it had cost the dealer.

The profit for the dealer? The pure joy of seeing David when he flung open the door to the shop, stopping speechless in front of the phonograph, clapping his hands together in prayer, and looking up to heaven and saying, “Thank you, thank you for my Victor Five.”

So, if you drive down the street past David’s apartment, you will most probably hear music. David will be playing his Victrola, and the world will be a little nicer.

Irene Budzynski

Irene Budzynski is a registered nurse in New England whose writing reflects the impact of special people in her personal and professional life. Her goal is to share the beauty of the quiet heroes among us whose names never appear in newspaper headlines. Irene can be contacted at: irene_budd@yahoo.com

I hope that you have enjoyed reading Andy Andrews Seven Decisions for Personal Growth and have begun to implement them into your life.  Some of the decisions may seem unimportant right now but you must make a determined effort to engage all to obtain personal success and growth.

For your convenience and easy access, I have linked all Seven Decisions here.

First Decision – The Responsible Decision

Second Decision – The Guided Decision

Third Decision – The Active Decision

Fourth Decision – The Certain Decision

Fifth Decision – The Joyful Decision

Sixth Decision – The Compassionate Decision

Seventh Decision – The Persistent Decision

In Andy Andrews final decision in The Traveler’s Gift,  he discuss the vital importance of persistence. If we do not continue on our quest with the persistence of child learning to walk, surely we will not succeed.  Persistence has no knowledge of failure.

THE PERSISTENT DECISION

I will persist without exception.

Knowing that I have already made changes in my life that will last forever, today I insert the final piece of the puzzle. I possess the greatest power ever bestowed upon mankind, the power of choice. Today, I choose to persist without exception. No longer will I live in a dimension of distraction, my focus blown hither and yon like a leaf on a blustery day. I know the outcome I desire. I hold fast to my dreams. I stay the course. I do not quit.

I will persist without exception. I will continue despite exhaustion.

I acknowledge the fact that most people quit when exhaustion sets in. I am not “most people.” I am stronger than most people. Average people accept exhaustion as a matter of course. I do not. Average people compare themselves with other people. That is why they are average. I compare myself to my potential. I am not average. I see exhaustion as a precursor to victory.

How long must a child try to walk before he actually does so? Do I not have more strength than a child? More understanding? More desire? How long must I work to succeed before I actually do so? A child would never ask the question, for the answer does not matter. By persisting without exception, my outcome—my success—is assured.

I will persist without exception. I focus on results.

To achieve the results I desire, it is not even necessary that I enjoy the process. It is only important that I continue the process with my eyes on the outcome. An athlete does not enjoy the pain of training; an athlete enjoys the results of having trained. A young falcon is pushed from the nest, afraid and tumbling from the cliff. The pain of learning to fly cannot be an enjoyable experience, but the anguish of learning to fly is quickly forgotten as the falcon soars to the heavens.

A sailor who fearfully watches stormy seas lash his vessel will always steer an unproductive course. But a wise and experienced captain keeps his eye firmly fixed upon the lighthouse. He knows that by guiding his ship directly to a specific point, the time spent in discomfort is lessened. And by keeping his eye on the light, there never exists one second of discouragement. My light, my harbor, my future is within sight!

I will persist without exception. I am a person of great faith.

In Jeremiah, my Creator declares, “For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” From this day forward, I will claim a faith in the certainty of my future. Too much of my life has been spent doubting my beliefs and believing my doubts. No more! I have faith in my future. I do not look left or right. I look forward. I can only persist.

For me, faith will always be a sounder guide than reason because reason can only go so far—faith has no limits. I will expect miracles in my life because faith produces them every day. I will believe in the future that I do not see. That is faith. And the reward of this faith is to see the future that I believed.

I will continue despite exhaustion. I focus on results. I am a person of great faith.

I will persist without exception.

Andy Andrews writes in his Sixth of Seven Decisions from his book The Traveler’s Gift, the Compassionate Decision could very well be the most difficult for a lot of people. He tells us that we must forgive. Ourself, our critics and those who do not ask forgiveness. It may be easy to forget and to put thoughts in the back of our mind but we must realize that they are not forgotten until the act that is causing any grief is forgiven.

THE COMPASSIONATE DECISION

I will greet this day with a forgiving spirit.

For too long, every ounce of forgiveness I owned was locked away, hidden from view, waiting for me to bestow its precious presence upon some worthy person. Alas, I found most people to be singularly unworthy of my valuable forgiveness and, since they never asked for any, I kept it all for myself. Now, the forgiveness that I hoarded has sprouted inside my heart like a crippled seed yielding bitter fruit.

No more! At this moment, my life has taken on new hope and assurance. Of all the world’s
population, I am one of the few possessors of the secret to dissipating anger and resentment. I now understand that forgiveness only has value when it is given away. By the simple act of granting forgiveness, I release the demons of the past about which I can do nothing and create in myself a new heart, a new beginning.

I will greet this day with a forgiving spirit. I will forgive even those who do not ask for forgiveness.

Many are the times when I have seethed in anger at a word or deed thrown into my life by an unthinking or uncaring person. Valuable hours have been wasted imagining revenge or confrontation. Now I see the truth revealed about this psychological rock inside my shoe. The rage I nurture is often one-sided, for my offender seldom gives thought to his offense!

I will now and forevermore silently offer my forgiveness even to those who do not see that they need it. By the act of forgiving, I am no longer consumed by unproductive thoughts. My bitterness is given up. I am contented in my soul and effective again with my fellow man.

I will greet this day with a forgiving spirit. I will forgive those who criticize me unjustly.

Knowing that slavery, in any form, is wrong, I also know that the person who lives a life according to the opinion of others is a slave. I am not a slave. I have chosen my own counsel. I know the difference between right and wrong. I know what is best for the future of my family, and neither misguided opinion nor unjust criticism will alter my course.

Those who are critical of my goals and dreams simply do not understand the higher purpose to which I have been called. Therefore, their scorn does not affect my attitude or action. I forgive their lack of vision and forge ahead. I now know that criticism is part of the price paid for leaping past mediocrity.

I will greet this day with a forgiving spirit. I will forgive myself.

For many years, my greatest enemy has been myself. Every mistake, every miscalculation, every stumble I made has been replayed over and over in my mind. Every broken promise, every day wasted, every goal not reached has compounded the disgust I feel for the lack of achievement in my life. My dismay has developed a paralyzing grip. When I disappoint myself, I respond with inaction and become more disappointed.

I realize today that it is impossible to fight an enemy living in my head. By forgiving myself, I erase the doubts, fears, and frustration that have kept my past in the present. From this day forward, my history will cease to control my destiny. I have forgiven myself. My life has just begun.

I will forgive even those who do not ask for forgiveness. I will forgive those who criticize me unjustly. I will forgive myself.

I will greet this day with a forgiving spirit.