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INSPIRE
by Pat Edmondson
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Proof Positive
by Pat Edmondson

When I was a child, I loved the Disney Song,
“When you Wish Upon a Star” from the movie Pinocchio. written by
Leigh Harlin and Ned Washington.

When you wish upon a star
Makes no difference who you are
Anything your heart desires
Will come to you

As a child I believed that and still do,
but I’m old enough to know that dreams happen when
we are sleeping, to realize our goals we must be fully awake and
working towards them.
 

One of my favorite quotes says
Some people dream of worthy accomplishments,
while others stay awake and do them.  
(“The Power of Goals” compiled by Peg Anderson)

How do we go from dreaming of our hearts desire to having that desire and
reaching our goals?  
There are two points I want to discuss with you today,

1, Write your Goals down and
keep them S.M.A.R.T., Specific, Measurable, Action Oriented, Realistic
and Time bound
, and

2, Maintain a positive attitude.   

Susan Miller in her motivation book “OOMPH POWER” says

“The first step towards getting
somewhere is to decide that
you are not going to stay where you are.”

Why is it important to write your Goals down?  
Haven’t we all talked to ourselves and say, tomorrow,
I’ll quit smoking or start on that diet or learn to make pottery, but
when you
actually write them down you make your self accountable to achieve
those goals and begin the mental process needed for change.  
When you do work towards achieving your Goals and begin the process by
writing them down,
be sure to use
S.M.A.R.T. goals.

•        S stands for Specific,
for example if you want to start exercising more, a specific goal would be to
say “I will start walking Monday, Wednesday and Friday evenings after work
beginning the week of September 11th.” as opposed to “I’m going to start
exercising tomorrow”  
•       
M stands for Measurable,
for example “I will weigh and measure myself before I start exercising and
weigh and measure myself each month” instead of “If I do it, that’s good
enough.”.  
•        
A is Action Oriented-what action will you take?  
A good example is
“I will walk Mon, Wed and Friday, every week,
if I miss a day I will make it up on Tue, Thur, Saturday.”
•        
R is for Realistic-
If you’re like me and not in very good shape, don’t set yourself up for failure
by saying,
“I’m going to walk every morning at
5:30 am” when you know that time is too early and
it’s unrealistic to think you can exercise every day
just starting out.  
•        
T is for Time-bound it just holds you to a time frame
-if your goal is to get your bachelors degree, make it specific, “I plan to
graduate Sullivan University in 2008
with a bachelor’s degree in Business Management.”  

Positive Thinking

It is great to set goals and write them down,
but what do you do when
life throws obstacles your way?
 
Dr. Norman Vincent Peale is considered the founder of the Positive
Thinking movement in America,
although many of the principles he bases his teachings on are found in
Judeo-Christian teachings, which have been around for thousands of years.  
I’ve read his book and I’m a living example of how using positive thinking
and having a belief in a higher power has helped me through some hard
times.

Just because you’re an optimist doesn’t mean
you don’t have hard times,
but even through the hard times,
I’m know they are only temporary
and truly believe things will be better.

I was diagnosed with epilepsy as a child, now they believe I had febrile
seizures.  I had my last seizure when I was 15 years old.  It was a stigma in
the 60s to be told you had epilepsy; the doctors told my parents that I might
have learning difficulties or behavior problems when I grew up.  I remember
hearing what the doctors said and thinking even at an early age that I was
not going to let what some doctor said about me determine my future.  
I was probably 9 or 10 years old.  I do not have learning or behavior
problems now. At least not according to the doctors, my family will admit I
have a few “blond moments”.
I knew I was smart and no “Doctor” was going to tell me how my future would
turn out.  Maybe because of this early obstacle I’ve developed a strong will
and positive attitude.  

Growing up I struggled with my weight,
but it didn’t keep me from playing volleyball, flag football, softball, running
track, swimming, dancing and having fun.  I even went white water rafting
when I was 40 years old.
I little weight (back then)
was not going to stop me from having fun and
doing the things I wanted to do.  
In the last four years, I’ve had health problems including
a non-cancerous brain tumor, uterine cancer and now the docs are telling
me I have something called sarcoidosis and rheumatoid arthritis.  My
physical symptoms are painful at times, but this will not stop me either.  
I’ve lost 26 pounds since March and am determined to
have victory over this obstacle too.  
Zig Ziggler a motivational speaker said

“I’m so positive that I’d go after Moby Dick in a rowboat and take the
tarter sauce with me.”
That’s me.  

Even though I’ve had my share of problems or circumstances in my life,
they have all been just that –circumstances or obstacles to get over.
George Bernard Shaw said “People are always blaming their
circumstances for what they are.  I don’t believe in circumstances.  
The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and l
ook for the circumstances they want, and,
if they can’t find them, they make them!”  
I believe that and as Norman Vincent Peale says

“No matter how dark things seem to be or actually are,
raise your sights and see possibilities-
always see them, for they’re always there.”  

I look at it like this, throughout life you may be walking down a certain path
and there may be pebbles or small rocks in your way. You can go around
or walk over the pebbles or small rocks with just a little discomfort.  
Other times in our lives we have big boulders that we can’t walk around,
we have to climb,
just as climbing rocks in the physical makes you stronger, climbing
rocks in the mental or spiritual also makes you stronger.
  

Positive thinking is a battle of the mind, weed those negative
thoughts out of your brain and cultivate positive thoughts.  

God didn’t promise sun without rain or roses without thorns, but He did
promise strength for the weak, rest of the weary and light for the way. And
He promised He will always be there to help us through the rough times.    

So set your S.M.A.R.T goals and keep a positive attitude no matter what
obstacles life throws at you.  
Believe you can make the change or goal you’ve set for yourself and do it.  

Don’t stay where you are if you are not happy
and come on, get going!

I’m going to start back at Curves two days a week and I plan to get my
bachelors degree by the end of 2008.  What are your goals, what are the
things that you feel negative about, if any, what is stopping you from meeting
your goals?  Don’t waste too much mental energy on the negative, believe in
yourself, think positive, whatever you goals are, you can achieve them.
 
I’m proof positive of that
!
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