by Terri LaFaye

Living Successfully

I believe people can fear ’success’ as much as failure. The more we empower others, the more we evolve into the people we are meant to be.

There’s a quote by James Allen that reads, “You are today where your thoughts have brought you, and you will be tomorrow where your thoughts take you.”

To paraphrase, I am where I am because of how I think, in the past, present, and future tenses. We (as a people) are because we thought we were.

Wow!

It is truly incredible how we can use mind over matter. Perhaps I was born out of time, and should have been one of those transcendentalists back in the days of Emerson and Thoreau. However, I believe if everyone used the ability and insight they are given, their lives would emulate the results. Imagine the possibilities! How much more everyone could become by believing themselves to be.

I like to think I’m still evolving, by involving others. Go out on a limb. Dare to risk failure, to reap success!

Risk to reach! Reach to risk!

How Do You See Yourself?

A friend of mine helped me remember a story I read in a book by Zig Ziglar, called, See You at the Top.

I’d love to share it with everyone as it’s a great story. If you’re one of my students, I may have told it to you before in class, but either way, please pass it on.

There’s a story of a little boy who was bothering his daddy. His daddy was trying to get things ready for an important business meeting the next day.

The dad saw a newspaper that had a picture of the world on it. So he got a pair of scissors and carefully cut the paper up in little pieces, and laid the pieces out on the floor.

He said, “Son, daddy needs to finish this work, so you sit here and put the world back together for Daddy.”

The little boy was excited at the new project! And the father thought…well, that’ll keep him busy for at least 30 minutes or so…

But to the father’s amazement, the little boy jumped up and said, “Daddy! Daddy, look! I fixed the world!”

The father was shocked, but sure enough, the little boy had carefully placed all the pieces of the world back together. He looked at his son and said, “How did you do this so fast, son?”

And the little boy, grinning said, “Well, I flipped the pieces over and there was a bigger picture of a man on the other side. When I got the man right, the world was right.”

Amazing what we can learn from a child.

When you get the man (yourself) right, the world will be right.

It all begins with YOU!

Are You Being Fed?

I’m reminded of another story I read years ago in a motivational book by Zig Ziglar.

In this story , there was a man who had a dream one night that he had gone to Hell.

There was a large banquet table filled with huge amounts of food. Every type of food you could think of from the sweets to the meats, it was all there, arranged in a glorious display.

Everyone was seated at the banquet table facing someone across on the other side of the table. In their hands, they all held huge spoons and forks, each spanning the height of a grown man. No matter how they tried to get the spoons and forks up to their mouths, they couldn’t.

Their faces held sad, sullen glances, and their bodies were weak and skinny. They were starving to death, wearing their skin over their frail frames like a heavy over coat.

Startled, the man awoke quickly, saying aloud, “That must have been hell.”

The next night, the man had another dream. But something was different.

Everything at the banquet table looked the same — food of every type piled lavishly high! A grander display had never been imagined!

This time, the people were laughing, smiling, and joyful. They were healthy and full from the foods of their choice. In their hands, they held the same size spoons and forks as those in hell, only this time …

This time, instead of trying to feed themselves, they were feeding the person across from them!

Waking quickly, the man sat up in bed, “That was heaven,” he said to himself.

Then he knew: The more you feed others…

The more you feed yourself.

So, are you being fed?