Sow the Seed - See the Harvest

The story is told of two boys who were walking through a field and found some corn seeds scattered across the ground. They each took one of the seeds home and planted it. When the first boy didn't see a tiny sprout after the second day, he dug up the seed to see if it had sprouted. Each day he dug up the seed and replanted it, but the corn would not grow. The seed had germinated; yet the boy had not allowed it to maintain contact with the soil, take root, and obtain nutrients. So, it died. The second boy planted his seed and left it alone. He imagined a tall stalk of corn where he had planted the seed. He waited patiently as rains came and sunshine bathed the ground with warmth. In ten days, a small sprout had broken through the ground, its curled leaves reaching toward the sky. Achieving any desire, whether large or small, begins with a seed sown in the mind. That seed is the vision of its fulfillment. It also requires the commitment to allow the vision to grow--the faith in God to do His part through storm, rain, and sunshine. Commitment in daily life allows life's storms to strengthen resolve. Resolve allows us to nurture a new dream, improve an existing dream, or even begin over if necessary. Faith allows acceptance of any circumstance as God's blessing for ultimate growth. A seed sown must be nourished with faith and belief. When you hold a picture of the final creation in your mind, you hold and maintain faith. You honor God's desire to create something wonderful, and you honor His choice of your hands to help do the job. How often do we plant the seed of a beautiful dream in the fertile soil of our minds, and then dig it up? What could you achieve if you allowed your seed to grow, continuing to focus your spiritual eyes on the harvest? If it were not possible for you to achieve a dream, God would not have placed it in your heart and mind. Sow your seed, allow it to grow, and see an abundant harvest.

Ability, Motivation, and Attitude

"Ability is what you're capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it." Lou Holtz There are three primary aspects of your life that will determine whether or not you are successful in your endeavors. You will not be successful if you have only one or two. You must have all three working together. Consider them like the three legs of a "stool of success." Ability - the level at which you are able to actually do things. Your skill level. If you have a high level of skill, that's good. And the better you get, the better it will be for you. To the degree that you can perform your actions at higher and higher skill levels, the more and more success you will find in your chosen field. Motivation - the level at which you are able to find "a reason to act." This is the internal drive that you find that enables you to exercise your abilities. To the degree that you can find a way, or ways, to keep yourself motivated,

you will see yourself right in the thick of things, carrying out your actions to the best of your abilities and succeeding accordingly. Attitude - this is the mental state that you have while carrying out your actions to the best of your ability. It is the way you view the world around you and choose to see it, either positively or negatively. To the degree that you can maintain a positive attitude about yourself, others, and the circumstances you find yourself in, you will see yourself achieving greater and greater things.

Book Summary: If Life is a Game, These are the Rules

This #1 New York Times bestseller offers some useful and understandable advice that can be applied to many situations. The idea of life as a series of lessons can help to put things into perspective and add to anyone's ability to deal with setbacks and reach their full potential. Rule one - You will receive a body Acceptance or rejection of your body only carries weight in your own mind, and your perception has no bearing on how your body actually looks, so why not choose the ease of acceptance rather than the pain of rejection? The choice is yours. Rule two - You will be presented with lessonsEach day in the school of life you will be presented with all the lessons that you specifically need to learn, whether you choose to learn them or not is entirely up to you. See these lessons as gifts, or guides along your path toward living as your authentic self. Rule three - There are no mistakes, only lessonsGrowth is a process of experimentation, a series of trials, errors, victories and setbacks. The failed experiments are as much a part of the process as the experiments that work. Without lessons, it is difficult to convert mistakes into valuable learning opportunities. Rule four - A lesson is repeated until learned Lessons will be repeated to you in various forms until you have learned them. When you have learned them, you can then go on to the next lesson. Rule five - Learning does not end Your journey on earth is constantly unfolding, and while your wisdom grows and your capacity to deal with challenges expands, new lessons will present themselves.Lessons will be around as long as you live. Rule six - There is no better than here This rule encourages you to live fully in the present. When your 'there' has become a 'here', you will simply obtain a there that will look better to you than your present here. Live in the 'here and now'. Avoid the continuous cycle of longing. Rule seven - Others are only mirrors of youYou cannot love or hate something about another person unless it reflects something you love or hate about yourself. See the qualities that you admire in others as characteristics that you have already embraced in yourself, allow them to illuminate more clearly your own feelings of self-worth. Rule eight - What you make of your life is up to you You have all the tools and resources you need. What you do with them is up to you. Rule nine - Your answers lie inside of you All you need to do is look, listen and trust. Many answers to life's problems are available by trusting your intuition and listening to the 'little voices' in your head.

Rule ten - You will forget all of this at birthCreate ways to find your way back to your truth when you forget. Surround yourself with people who know your personal truth and are familiar with your authentic self. They can help keep you rooted. Key thoughts: "Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because characte is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are." -John Wooden, college basketball coach "Although they only give gold medals in the field of athletics, I encourage everyone to look into themselves and find their own personal dream, whatever that may be - sports, medicine, law, business, music, writing, whatever. The same principles apply. Turn your dream into a goal and learn how to attack that goal systematically. Break it into bitesize chunks that seem possible, and then don't give up. Just keep plugging away." - John Naber, swimmer, four-time Olympic Gold Medalist By: Regine Azurin