

The Faith Principle

Remove Your Mountains & Live Life Through Faith

Shon Wilson
Copyright © 2012 LaShondra Washington

All rights reserved.

ISBN:10 1484054237

ISBN-13: 978-1484054239

DEDICATION

To my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for guiding me through this project and representing the true definition and power of faith.

This book is dedicated to my husband Randy Wilson, and my two children Randy Jr. and (my) Emmanuel.

From The Author:

Every word of this book was written out of pain. I wanted so desperately to remind you of how powerful you are, and how we all have the same options and the same choices. This is not coming from the perspective of the millionaire sitting on high who really can't understand the everyday struggles of those still sitting low in the valley. This book was written in that valley. It was written when my life wasn't so pleasant and comfortable, but I intended with all of my might to get these words to you. This project is intended to help you with the development of your goals and aspirations, even those that you considered to be dead and impossible. You can live your life to the fullest and not apologize for your blessings. It doesn't matter what your age is, how you grew up, or where you are today. Your life can be far different from every other person in your family and far better than your closest friends. This is not a book about religious belief but rather self-belief, because the achievements and advantages that one person may have, are not exempt to any other group of people. You can live your dreams, and have the tastes of heaven right here on earth. You deserve the best. You simply had no idea how to get there.

CONTENTS

 | Introduction | 9

---|---|---

1 | Stand There: The Realization of Where You Are | 18

2 | The Truth About It All | 22

3 | Who Is Walking With Your Legs | 26

4 | Moving Mountains | 34

5 | The Mountain of Unforgiveness | 38

6 | Living A Life Of Great Expectancy | 46

7 | Faith Requires Focus | 53

8 | How Faith Is Activated | 62

9 | Telling Them What To Do | 68

10. | The Fearing Agents | 74

11. | Resurrect The Dead | 80

12. | Just Hold Hands & Sing | 85

13. | What You Now Remember | 92

14. | Say Grace | 96

15. | The Work Part | 101

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Not just because the existence of my living, but due to the millions of other things that I do not have time nor space to list, I tip my hat to both my mother, Mary Washington and my father Jimmy Freeman. They have both instilled in me a work ethic beyond belief and the gift of knowing that anything in life is easily achievable when one sets their mind to it. A thank you also goes to my pastor, brother and friend Latrell Freeman and his family. Also to my sister Tomecka and younger brother Jimmy Jr. Many thank you's are extended to my friends and extended family in the housing industry. Destiny Cox, owner of D.C.I International who has paved the way for entrepreneurship. To my forever teacher Mrs. Pearl Washington whose wisdom in itself is worth more money than the government prints! To my grandmother, Murlee Washington who has given me everything since I exited the womb, to her I owe everything. Thank you also to Tammy Malone whom I cannot think of words to express my undying gratitude.

To my boss, mentor and friend Mr. Jimmy Skefos. Σας ευχαριστούμε Δημήτρη. Αγαπώ και εκτιμώ εσείς ακριβά. Είθε ο Θεός να συνεχίσει να ευλογεί Κατρίνα και Τζέρι.

Also, to the children at the Binghampton Community Center in Memphis, TN. You may start there but trust me, you can end up anywhere your heart's desire.

We live by faith, not by sight.

2 Corinthians 5:7

iNTRODUCTION:

THE REBIRTH OF WHAT IS ALREADY KNOWN

Do you remember when you believed in cartoons? Do you remember playing with toys as a child, tuning out reality and having endless hours of joy in an imaginative world? Do you remember considering visiting certain lands that you thought existed even though they were not on any maps? There was a time when we were younger and dreamed of being like a certain person, doing a certain thing, or visiting a certain place, and it wasn't until we reached adulthood that certain "realities" took those dreams away. You may sit back and think about those past imaginations and your small accomplishments in life, and wonder what the difference is between what happened then and what is going on in your life now.

Your genetic makeup, the environment you were raised in or the assumed lack of opportunities available are not the reasons behind your unaccomplished goals. You have failed to take what you knew then and apply it to what you want now. There is a way to transform what is in your imagination into something that you can actually physically hold. This power is within you. It has been gifted to you at the moment you were born and has always worked throughout your life. It's called "The Faith Principle."

The first time it happened I was just about six months pregnant with my first child. A cold aching feeling came through my body as I listened to the nurse who had abruptly called me at work with the news. She was subtle with her speech, almost whispering and warm with her approach. It was only eight words but the impact hit hard like a surprising thunder storm on a spring night. I held on tightly to the receiver as she muttered it, "The doctor needs to speak with you immediately." I tried not to panic yet my coworkers could tell in my demeanor that something had changed. The next morning, I rushed down the streets of Poplar Avenue in Memphis wondering what the news could possibly be. Have they realized I was having twins? Did some blood work come back abnormal? The possibilities where endless but at twenty-six years old, I was old enough to know that this was something serious.

Once inside the office building it seemed as if every employee there knew something I didn't. I had no appointment on the books, yet upon arrival the attendants hurried me to the doctor's personal office and not a waiting room. It was cold, and the leather seats made a crackling noise as I sat down and read the many accolades that aligned the doctor's wall. There was a huge wall clock that seemed to tick slow and loud and many pictures of his family who all smiled at me as I sat there wallowing in the quietness before the storm. Finally, the doctor stepped in the room.

"How are you?" He asked, or said something along that nature.

The animal instinct in me wanted to grab the file folder he was carrying and look through it myself. Almost twenty four hours had passed since the phone call and at this point I was about to scream for an answer.

"I requested for you to come in today because some of the test results came back from your last ultrasound with abnormalities."

"Abnormalities" I repeated. "As in, maybe my baby will be born with an extra leg?" I asked, wanting to make light of the situation.

At this point, he sat across from me in another leather seat and not at his desk. This was important. I could tell this was very personal. "Your son," He uttered and this became very heart reaching to me. As of yet, no one including myself, had ever referred to this baby inside of me as 'my son'. This was important. Now I was listening.

The doctor continued. "Your son does not have much brain activity. What I mean is, at this point we do not believe that his brain will be able to communicate with his body. Preliminary results suggest that he will be diagnosed with a disease called down-syndrome."

"What is that?" I asked.

"Basically, he will not be able to grow and function normally. Things such as going to the restroom timely, walking and speech will be impaired if possible at all. He may be bound by a wheelchair and live his life with a strong learning disability."

I shrugged and leaned back. I pictured the image of a child in a wheelchair being feed through tubes. Immediately I forced the thought to leave my head. "Are you sure? How accurate are these tests?"

"Not 100%, nothing is," He reassured me. "We could do another test if you allow us to stick a needle in the womb and......." He continued as I turned my face to the side in disgust. "Or we could wait until you went into delivery. Once the baby arrives there are motor and skill assessments that are done when the baby arrives."

"Umm," I muttered. While handing pamphlets to me, he advised that I do private research on the disease. Then, for whatever reason, he gathered closer to me and started to stroke my hand.

"You're young," he begin. "I've seen this many times. You shouldn't see yourself spending the rest of your life taking care of someone who really won't have a life. There are options even at this stage where we can terminate the pregnancy....."

Chicken. Car's. Blue water fish. I immediately started to think of anything else as he continued. Shrimp. Steak. Shrimp and steak at the local seafood restaurant. As he spoke, my conscience refused to embrace it. Moments later, he was finally finished and I quickly rushed back to the private compounds of my car.

As an adult there are only a handful of moments in which you really, really don't want to speak to anyone else on earth but your mother. This was one of my moments. Of course, the wall started to fall from in front of me as tears rushed down my face while reiterating the conversation. For some reason it wasn't the news of hearing about the possibility of my son having Down Syndrome that was painful, but rather it was the decision that my doctor was suggesting which was to kill my baby. Terminating this thing that was growing inside of me to which I already had a bond was not an option.

My mother did what most mothers do, console me. She gave me that needed assurance that even though the doctors have scientific proof, faith over-rides logic. She advised me to do what was necessary, cry about it, pray about it but still keep going. So I decided right there in the car to walk this thing out even though I had no idea where it was heading. My faith would see me through.

We decided not to tell anyone. We decided not to claim this thing nor mention it as if it was true. I had to hide the news from my grandmother who was not only my best friend but the matriarch of our family. Instead, I focused on the life of a beautiful, healthy young son who was steadily on his way. I created a great anticipation for his arrival.

That wasn't the first time faith had to work in my life but that was the first time I had to face it dead on. This was my muster seed moment. It was the re-birth of what I had already known but rarely applied. Masterminds knew how powerful faith was and how we could use this element to achieve unbelievable feats. Plato wrote, "We are twice armed if we fight with faith." Saint Augustine stated, "Faith is to believe what you do not see: the reward of faith is to see what you believe.

My options where simple; create my own story with a happy ending or accept someone else's story for me. I could have faith in what God said and what my mother was reiterating about my child, that he would "live and declare the works of the Lord," or I could believe in scientific proof and fact; something that was undeniably against everything that I wanted to believe. There wasn't anything special about me at all. An African-American woman in her twenties facing single parenthood, working an hourly job that was far from the career I wanted to pursue. Without a college degree I was marginally a statistic. But could faith work for me?

Could I do the unimaginable, heal my son through my predominant thoughts? And if that was true, then what would that mean for the rest of my life and especially for every other human person around me? I quickly found out that the power within us all called "Faith" is a force so strong it can alter whatever it is that you believe into fact.

The power of one person's mind has always surpassed the power of a thousand machines. Human kind is a special race of individuals who at the size of an ant function with the capabilities of giants. Our lives have always and will continue to be governed by laws and principals given to us by God. Among those principals is the power to shift what is fact simply through a change of thought processes. We all live by it, the faith principle.

A few months later when I told this story to close family and friends they were astonished. Even more baffled where the medical team members who aligned the room during the delivery. Not only was my son born with no birth defects whatsoever he continues to be one of the most outstanding students in school today. Throughout the process doctors closely monitored his development both physically and mentally until they found no just cause to continue any treatments or appointments. What I had always known had resurfaced in my life. The power of the mind and the power of having faith is sometimes all that you need. Once a desire for a certain thing is created, much like a tree finding rout in the ground, there isn't much anyone or anything can do to prevent this act of nature from occurring.

What happened to me was far from a medical miracle although there are millions in this world who have experienced faith altering the outcome of the terminally ill. It was simply a situation that existed that allowed me to justify what so many others have always said and what has been repeated through history many times before. The faith that you have in yourself or your goals or your desires, is so powerful that it may change your situation. You can do, have or be anything and this is not true just because it is what your parents have told you. In a world full of unique souls, we all have this controlling power to shift the outcome in a situation, likewise to changing the channel on television. Our mind is the remote control and depending on whatever number we push, that image eventually becomes real. If you don't like the channel all that it takes is a simple push of another button or a simple adjustment in your thought process and belief's. This is the guided power of every human person's life; faith.

You are really not an original. You are actually the prototype of the creator. Much like a copy you do not possess everything that God, or the creator has. And much like your own children you where gifted with a mind all your own and free will choices that have allowed you to be in the position of life that you have found yourself now. But some traits where carried down from God himself to you. Much like your grandfather's nose or your great-grandmother's thighs, you had no choice in receiving some of these traits. Consider them free gifts. One of which that is more powerful than you may have originally realized is the power of your mind and having faith. Before any invention that you may create that may bring millions into your life is your faith in believing it will work. Prior to obtaining your next promotion or meeting the person in which you will spend the rest of your life with, is your faith and believing that this thing will happen.

Just before climbing the hills of Mt. Everest, graduating from law school or purchasing your home comes the deciding factor that:

1.) you desire to want/will/have this thing and

2.) you believe (or have faith) that it is possible.

You may need to re-read the previous statements to realize how simple that is. Once you get those two points you will gain a better understanding of how especially wonderful and powerful you are.

The rebirth of what is already known happens when you go through something in life and then think back and remember just how many times faith has guided you through worse situation. It's remembering about your first car or obtaining your first degree or even embarking on your first job. It's remembering who you are and realizing that there is no one thing made that can stop you from achieving whatever it is that you desire.

1.

Stand There: The Realization of Where You Are

One single fact regarding all belief systems and religions is that the carriers or believers in said religions have undying faith that their belief is the only one true that is true and correct. God himself has been transformed into millions of different representations, names and illustrations. His thoughts have been translated into so many interpretations that two people who may have the same belief system, still may suffer on independent opinions regarding God's perceptions on life. However, one thing continues to hold true, that there is no power higher than God himself, alone. He created this universe, through the theories of science and/or the theory of speaking life itself into existence. Over these millions of years after the beginning of man, comes you and I, standing there awaiting the next steps after birth. We are all connected although identically different, to this one concept; we came from an infinite being that many classify under one term or one name; God. Why then, if we are all connected to God who has created and continues to create everything are we not able to "stand there" as He did either physically or spiritually and create a life existence for ourselves. Why then, aren't we able to realize the power of our speech and speaking things into our lives? Why then, aren't we able to understand our limitless power when it comes to faith and belief?

The facts are:

God "stood there" and noticed that man should not be alone. Thus, he decided upon and created Eve as the perfect help mate.

Napoleon "stood there" and perceived, amongst many non-supporters that the world was not flat. He sat about on a journey to prove himself true.

Garrett Augustus Morgan "stood there" and realized the need for the traffic light after noticing many fatalities on the roads which were shared by pedestrians, animal-powered wagons and bicycles.

In 1903, Mary Anderson received a patent for windshield wipers when she "stood there" and noticed that streetcar drivers had to have the windows open for visibility when it rains.

There are modern day inventions being designed, tested and created as you are reading these words. Furthermore, there are smaller easier desires that you may have in your life that await to be created. The testament of time as to how long your life will remain as is and the moment in which you decide to no longer stay there but commit on creating your destiny relies only on you. There are many men and women who desire to achieve or obtain something. The differences are found in those that think about this thing and those that refuse to stand there any longer, but achieve it. None of this should be new news to you. There have been many around you who have accomplished things that others may have only dreamed about. There have been many around you who seem to get whatever it is that they desire. They are no longer standing there. They remain in a position of movement.

Many will look at their lives and say, "I don't like this but I guess I have to deal with it." Others will suggest, "I don't like this and I will NOT deal with it anymore." This simple shifting in thought process or alternative way of thinking is the majority difference between accomplishing anything it is that you desire. Believing in yourself changes things. It doesn't take a doctor's degree or theological certificate to heal wombs, see your dreams manifest or to have the life you have dreamed. It's all available to all of us. It is a gift that God has granted unconditionally.

Although not a new and strange concept, "faith" is powerful and the principals of it are undeniably stronger than the facts will ever be. Fact never changes, it is always there and becomes increasingly true by the moment. Faith on the other hand always changes, it penetrates through facts/logic/statistics. What remains true for me may very well not be true for you and yet to someone else may not be true at all. This gift that has been governed to us with no return date postage, so as long as I believe that I may open a business, complete college, lead a symphony or simply have enough money to make a certain purchase I can. There is nothing that can hold me back after the moment that I decide to take that first step.

Standing there, or sitting there, or wherever you may find yourself at this reading, where exactly are you? Are you happy with your career and where it is going or do you daydream of being a C.E.O. of your own company. Are you completely content with your personal life or are there many hidden bruises in your exterior that you keep trapped behind the hidden secret closet of your life. No matter where you are this is the season and this is the time for you to begin to achieve your purpose, and only you know what that is. It doesn't matter what the news reports are saying or what others may think of you. The Faith Principle was written to remind you of how special and unique you are. This is the time. There is no more excuses or set-backs. Today is the beginning of your new tomorrow. Realize who you are and get to know yourself and the power that has been withheld within.

2.

The Truth About It All

You are so important and your mind is so powerful that this fact has been true since you were born and will continue to be true throughout your life: Whatever you believe, it becomes true.

People usually connect faith to areas of religious or systematic belief. In agreement with that, if you firmly believe or have faith in a particular religion, a lucky tree, or prosperity cloth, you probably will see evidence in that commitment. Yet it is not due to the special jacket, magic chair or healing rock. It is completely due to the fact that this is what you believe, and whatever it is that you believe about yourself, your life and your existence will become a fact.

If you believe God provides the blessings, He will. On the other hand, you may be Buddhist, Muslim, Jewish, Hindu or a member of the many other millions of religions organizations that exist. Yet all of them, and all of us, get that particular thing that we have faith in. We all see evidence in whatever or whoever it is that we have faith in. Some people believe they can heal themselves while others may believe in a strict diet and exercise program, and that constant prayer has nothing to do with it. No one seems to notice that if you believe that you are healed, chances are you will be. Medicine provides the scientific facts, but there is not one medicine created that will heal every person who is diagnosed with a certain alignment. They all have side effects and a small possibility that it may not work for some people. Faith, on the other hand, has no side effects. It doesn't have any "start" or "stop" points. Faith produces facts in our lives, every time and all the time. No one can tell you that "you can heal yourself through faith alone," but there are many who will suggest that having faith in living a long, healthy life has aided in their healing process.

We consider others outside of our belief systems to not be living in the full "truth" or "light" of life, but everyone continues to get whatever they have faith in. Through faith, we get the things that we expect to receive. Through faith, we get the things we ask for. Through faith, we all live out our lives.

The Faith Principle works as simply as this: whatever you believe in, that becomes true. Whatever you desire, focus on, and strive for becomes manifested in your life. This is a standard principal that governs everybody, all the time. Any goals in your life that you have and will accomplish will be done in effect with a controlled power that turns faith into fact. You may find yourself in a career that pays over $100,000 per year. Your thought process may be, "I've worked hard for this, and I deserve it." Because this is what you believe, it has become true. This has become real, and it is what you have received. However, there are many others who may have found themselves stuck in situations that are contrary to this, such as wanting to reside alone. Their thought process is, "It's hard to find a job that will allow me to be self-sufficient." This is true for them. That is what they have faith in, and that is exactly what they receive. Wherever there is a point of shifting one's faith or belief in a certain area, combined with a strict focus on this shift, you can change your situation. This always works and never fails. Your focus and faith in an uncertain time will yield the result that is in your heart, thoughts, and expectations.

In essence, if you believe that you are overweight and that you always will be due to an inherited family trait, you create a mountain in front of you to become healthier because of the belief that there is nothing you can do about it. If you feel you will never find that perfect mate because all the good lovers are taken, there is a great chance that you will continue to meet bad candidates. Maybe you believe you will never find a stable job because the newscasts keep repeating the signs of an economic downfall. If so, you will continue to see evidence of this while close associates maintain a prosperous and financially fulfilling lifestyle. These things are true, because this is what you believe. This is what you think about, this is what you say and this is what you prepare for. Thus, this is what you have faith in, and it is what you will get.

Many may suggest there are people who get what they want unexpectedly. They perceive that life is lived haphazard and that "whatever happens, happens." There is the team coach that told the reporters he never expected to win the championship. Yet, the team practiced three times a day perfecting their winning strategies. Were they practicing to win or lose? There is the multi-millionaire who grew up in poverty and never thought he would be successful in the field of real estate. Yet he spent endless amounts of hours studying the craft and investing money in his education in this field. Were the many hours and dollars spent learning how to lose money in real estate? These people have used the faith principal to live the life they designed and wanted. Each second of your life has not been carved out for you. Each one of us has choices, thoughts and a will to do whatever it is we desire. In those choices one could either chose something to provoke the emotion of pain or the emotion of happiness. We block ourselves when we allow mountains to overtake the beautiful scenery of life.

3

Who Is Walking With Your Legs?

Don't read past the title of this chapter too fast. Answer the question. Wherever you are right now, who is walking with your legs? Who can tell your body where to go? Who decides, then, what direction your life takes? Only you. So if you have found yourself unable to believe that whatever it is that you want is obtainable for you, it's because of the mountains that you have placed in your life. There is no one who can remove them but you. They are in the middle of your highway to happiness, and you can't simply drive around them. The only thing that moves mountains is faith. No one else or no one thing has power and control over you. Whatever it is that you believe in is real, even if you don't see its physical evidence. Your belief in itself will lead to manifestation.

Before you can emotionally and spiritually accept "The Faith Principle" or believe that you can do whatever it is you may specifically want to do in life, you must accept the fact that just as it is in your own power to change things, it was in your own power that things are the way they are.

A funny story occurred in my life when an elderly couple met me outside of a grocery store and asked me to go in and purchase lottery tickets for them. The wonderfully aged couple was having problems getting the husband's wheelchair through the entryway. I gladly accepted and advised the couple to make their way back towards their vehicle and that I would be back out in ten minutes with their ticket. When I returned outside, they had already found comfort back in their car. I gave the ticket to the wife, as the husband looked exhausted. She smiled as she started to scratch it off and exclaimed, "If I win $500, I'll split it with you."

"No, thank you," I answered back, but with a sudden pause. The greatest jackpot on the scratch off was $10,000. "Ma'am, you could win the big one!" I added.

"No, no," she stated, "I never win more than a few dollars on this thing," she answered with a beautiful smile.

I gave them both a cordial goodbye. The lovely couple had, of course, only won a few bucks. I wondered why they would go out if it was so much trouble in the pursuit of a lottery ticket but only expected to win a few dollars. I wondered what had happened in life to make them believe they couldn't win the jackpot and live the rest of their lives in happiness. I wondered what made the wife consider herself not worthy enough to deserve the best.

For far too long, many of us have offered up every excuse imaginable as to why our life isn't where we want it to be. Congress or the government may be the reason (or excuse) people use as to why they can't make more money. Hormones or family heredity may be the reason (or excuse) others use as to why they can't live a long, healthy fulfilling life. A bad divorce may be the reason (or excuse) some use as to why they cannot get their credit back on track. A housing shortage on loans is the definite reason (or excuse) many use as to why they cannot get a house and obtain home ownership. The reasons or excuses for someone not getting what they want or, better yet, deserve, may be as long as the roads are in the United States. When one excuse starts to work (or begins to work through faith), then it becomes so comfortable in our lives that we tend to use it over and over again for every situation.

There are no excuses. Your failure to believe that you can't have what you want has resulted in you not having it! You can go back to school (if you believe you can), because the fact that you cannot find a babysitter is not an excuse. You can start your business (if you believe you can), because the fact that others have tried and failed is not an excuse. You can get to your desired weight (if you believe you can). The fact that your family members don't support you is not an excuse. Your parents are not the reasons why you cannot make the mortgage payment. Your co-workers are not the reason why your boss did not give you the promotion. Your children are not the reason why you cannot finish school. Your loved ones are not the reason why some relationships have failed in your life. All of these things and any other mountains that are in your life are because of you!

It has felt pleasing to you to blame others, and you have found much comfort in believing outside elements are a primary controlling factor in life. For this reason, you have used this practice throughout your life. Disappointments are easier to deal with because none of these disappointments are due to your failure to make the correct choices. By blaming others, you have isolated yourself from responsibility and that has felt good to you. But there are many who want more out of life rather than the leftovers of what others throw them. There are many who are realizing that a part of having a good relationship and receiving love is each partner having love for themselves. There are others who understand that a principal connection to doing well in business is doing well personally. You cannot control people and other people cannot control you, unless they were born with your legs attached to their body.

You are the biggest mountain that you will ever have. Your failure to take control of the situation and walk with your own legs has resulted in an unfulfilling life. For a short period of time you thought others were in control, but no one else can define your happiness and your success. Also, no one else can bring you happiness or success on a platter. All these things are up to you. The thought process that you may have of someone or something holding you back is just an illusion. You have held yourself back, and you are the only one who can push you forward.

Every aspect of your life is due to you having faith or not. You have believed a lie in that some were born with "silver spoons," whereas opportunities have already been governed to them. These are only people who use faith as their action and expect nothing but the best that life has to offer. They do not conjure a thing up and consider it impossible. They do not blame others for failures. They assist in the continual movement of obstacles and mountains being moved out of their way by taking responsibility for their own shortcomings. Their "bad" seasons usually do not last long, and this is all by their own power. This same power is within you.

In having faith and using faith, and knowing that you can have and become whatever it is that you want for yourself, you have to understand that life's shortcomings are no one else's fault. You have to begin the act of forgiving, and learn how to deal with things at face value. The quicker and faster you can see a situation as it is, deal with it and have faith enough to pull yourself out, the faster you can turn your situation and your life around. Once a game is over, the losing team never sits there and stares at the score board. No, they pack up, clean up, practice again and head towards the next game. You have spent a lot of time looking at the scoreboard of losses in your life. There are other opportunities out there, other games to be played, and yet you've sat in the empty gym a long time. This is possibly why many of your fans have left.

Faith works for everyone all at the same time. Another's faith level will grant them their desired results, but just because one couldn't believe such a thing to be true does not mean it cannot become a reality for another person. It's all available for all of us. Several people may head towards the same direction in life but take different routes. One may get there faster.

One may save more money on gas. Another may make several stops, making their observations different, but they all can and will eventually get there. As long as they all keep driving. Faith brings into your reality whatever it is that you believe in. So if you really believe that your shortcomings are someone or something else's fault, it doesn't take much research to find your scientific fact. If you believe with all your heart that you are in poverty because your father never trained you well on money matters, you will continue to have financial problems. Why? Because you have failed to take responsibility for yourself and acknowledge what the problem really is.

Your father is not the problem.

The printing of money is not the problem.

The banks are not the problem.

You are.

If you believe that your boss does not like you, you will eventually begin to see his stares, grunts and whispers and just know he's talking about you. One day, he will.

Before you take advantage of "The Faith Principle" and change a situation, you must take responsibility for it. You must move yourself out of the way before you can move forward. You have made excuses and enemies out of people who do not deserve such judgment.

Don't absorb yourself in what you have been told. Usually, people who refuse to take responsibility have found themselves continually blocked by their own mountains. They've found comfort in this and the only faith they have is that life will continue to be the same, and it will. You will see this as, over time, they will go through the same cycles that life offers them. Others will refuse to seek shelter under the umbrella of somebody else. You will see them blossom because they do not yield their life to others. There is a release in taking responsibility for yourself, if at all simply to learn that your happiness does not depend on anyone or anything else.

This chapter started with a simple question, "Who is walking with your legs?" Now that you have some sort of idea as to why your life is the way it is, you can start the process of forgiving yourself first. This is needed to begin the process of trusting yourself. Just because you have failed in an area at a certain time does not mean it is not still obtainable for you. You had spoken negatively about yourself. That will no longer be done. You kept reminding yourself of those who've hurt you. You will slowly start to disregard this practice. You forgot about the power of your mind. This habit should discontinue. You settled for things "as is" and tried not to let your imagination go too far in its rambling of possibilities. You won't do that again. You believed your failures were due to someone or something, but now you have realized that no one can hold you back. Regardless of what others think or believe about you, they cannot pop the bubble of your happiness unless you allow them to. They cannot alter the possibilities of your faith. You can remove your mountains and you can receive whatever it is that you want out of life.

There may be many people in your life who consider your dream a joke. As you ramble on about starting a business, or moving somewhere near the beach, their opinions vary. Either it is not the right time, or you simply shouldn't do this or why take yourself through all that trouble when "odds are" you will fail. Start today by practicing the concept of not allowing the thoughts, judgments and opinions of others to invade a mind that is all your own. Children often use this practice. No matter how many times we tell our children that we "cannot afford" something or that we are not able to get them what they desire, at the first opportunity of getting it for them, we as parents do. This is in part to the fact that they continue to ask for it. "No" does not exist in their mind no matter the many ways you offer it to them. As parents, we don't worry about what tomorrow will bring, especially on special occasions; our mindset is always set on what will make them happy. As you become an adult, remember that the responsibility of what will make you happy shifts to you. Others may not understand and may not stretch themselves to agree. It's all up to you now.

4.

Moving Mountains

Every one of us, from the homeless on the corner to the highly successful CEO, has a mountain that they would like to remove. Your mountains represent a certain thing or thought that has held you back from reaching your full potential. It's the wall that stands in between our complete happiness, and much like a fingerprint, it is as specific and different as each individual's life. It works like a barrier standing in front of your visions and dreams and has prevented you from receiving all the greatness that life has to offer.

Various mountains that many struggle with include:

Unforgiveness

Fear

Bad Relationships

Doubt

Low Personal Esteem

Greed

Bad Decision Making

No Gratitude

Listening to the opinions of others

The specifics of how these mountains appear with their jagged edges and ridges are more individualized according to each person. Some of our mountains are short and smooth, having the capabilities of being easily moved. Others have long valleys and tunnels, stretching their outlines with extended trails of upset and tribulations that have lasted as long as we remember. Regardless, most of us are living life with at least one area that has halted us from obtaining certain personal goals.

If you have ever felt, said or thought that you could not, won't be able to or a certain position was impossible for you to obtain, you became the biggest mountain in your valley. Your life has been built by faith, and therefore your failure to remove these hindrances has halted you from fully developing certain goals and aspirations that you desire. You've wasted too much time trying to please others. You've given far too much energy to the negatives of life while at the same time ignoring the power within you. It is possible to change your life and live in freedom, abundance, happiness, and peace. It is possible to remove your mountains no matter how long they have been there.

One of life's greatest discoveries is the wheel. A very intelligent person once looked at a rock and decided that somehow, some way, he was going to move it. I'm sure in those times many had chosen to just ignore the rocks or spend life simply walking around them. Yet, somebody through faith believed that it could be removed. Someone decided to use harder item and turn that rock into something that could eventually move and then keep moving until it was completely out of eyesight.

The biggest mountain or hurdle you will have to get over before accomplishing anything major in life is your own thinking. Do you believe you can have the certain thing that you desire? If you want to be a millionaire, why then do you feel such comfort with your debt? Is it because the opinions of others keep you trapped in a dead end career that provides a lackluster income? Do you have faith in receiving the promotion at work? If so, why do you continue to speak negative words about your employer if this is where you expect your blessing to come? Is it due to your failure to create good relationships with coworkers and superiors? If you are pondering when your mate will come into your life, why keep your closet so cluttered that if they were to come, there would be no space for them to live?

Many will look at their lives and say, "I don't like this, but I guess I have to deal with it in my life." A few will add, "I'm not going to deal with this. This is my life!" Some people face giants, but more than often many of us see them and run away. Still, you cannot begin the process of moving mountains without at first staring at it. You are going to have to be honest about your life, your past, your relationships and your feelings. If your desire is to be a great performer but you lack the ability and stage presence right now, admit that this is your mountain. Before you can perform on a stage in front of millions, you must be able to captivate an audience of ten. Now that you have admitted this is your mountain, you can remove it altogether by creating a better relationship with your fan base, even if it is only one person right now. You could start to practice performing many times a day in front of however many people you can gather. You are removing your mountains, and you are facing the giant head on.

Faith moves mountains. Believing in yourself changes things. It doesn't take a doctor's degree or theological degree to heal wounds, see your dreams manifest or to live life to the fullest. It's all available to all of us. Anyone could have turned the rock into a wheel, but only one person decided to put pressure back on the rock. I'm sure many had tried, but only one believed in himself and that was the only difference. It wasn't the physical work but the mental work, the thought process, the belief and faith enough to see things through. This is what separates those that pull greatness into their lives and those that continue to push it away.

What are the mountains in your life? Be honest with yourself and do a self-check of everything that is a positive or negative. Balance out your "life book" by taking a subjective view of things that need to be removed and things that you need to appreciate and get more of. In the pursuit to have all that it is you desire, things will have to change, people will have to be removed and your thought process on life must be converted. There is no way around this. Whatever mountains you know will need to be removed must now be identified. Now is the time to look at the giant. There is no other way in finding out his weakness and begin the process of knocking him down.

5.

The Mountain of Unforgiveness

Life may not have been so great for you. Many people have wronged you in ways that are unimaginable. Things have been said to you that have cut like long swords across your body. There have been many who doubted you and thus you have doubted yourself because most of these harmful words came from the very individuals who were supposed to provide love and support. You've felt heartbroken on more than one occasion, and this is why it is harder for you to do the many things that others have accomplished so easily. Your support system provides no support, and this is why you have fallen each time. Furthermore, if you ever decided to write a book or make a movie about your life, it would be filled with so many dismal turns, the plot would be unbelievable. Yet, you still have to forgive.

Unforgiveness is the mountain that has deep roots, if you cut it down half way, it will grow back again quickly. You must forgive not only those who have harmed you, but most importantly yourself. There is no other way around this mountain, nor is there any other way to cover this up. Unforgiveness can halt your faith, much like a red light abruptly sitting in the middle of an expressway.

Forgive everyone for everything and continue to do so until their actions have held no responsibility to your happiness.

  * The manager on your job who denied you the promotion.....

  * The parent who considered you the "weaker" sibling....

  * The spouse who cheated......

  * The friend who betrayed your trust......

Forgive them, not because they have deserved it or even asked, but because the greater life that you are about to experience through faith will not allow you to look back and focus on what was. Everything that has happened to you has led up to this moment because, through life's tragedies, you can now focus more on exactly what it is that you do want and exactly how it is that you require for people to treat you. It may have taken you getting burned to realize exactly how hot a stove can get, but now you know. Through that mistake you can always remember to keep your gloves on!

It's so easy for someone else to command you to forgive. Others have given you this advice to no avail. Every time you see this person or think about this certain thing, your emotions go directly back to the original hurt. But why? If they have hurt you so bad, why then do you continue to give them or it focus and energy? That same focus, drive and emotion could be used elsewhere in your life. And it should be. No one has the ability to shift that power but you.

Forgiveness affects your faith because it can allow you to no longer believe in people or certain situations that have played out in your life. You cannot really have true belief in finding a mate if you continue to think and focus on the many who have wronged you before. If you focus on each of the relationships in the past, while entering into a new one, the perception will be that it will be the same. It's a lot harder to focus on living a healthier lifestyle if you continue to have pain towards a failed dieting system and its costs. With each new sunrise, all things become new again and whatever happened yesterday is impossible to change. So why spend hours today trying to do so?

  * What about forgiving someone who doesn't ask? They've did me wrong and won't admit to it.

It's probably easier to forgive someone who doesn't ask because these people may perceive that they never did anything wrong in the first place. By them not admitting they're wrong and you not forgiving, this leaves a stalemate, and neither party will be able to go anywhere. You don't forgive for the other person but for yourself, period! Don't allow other people to be your mountains when "they" can be so easily removed. Your perception of things can change a situation. If your best friend has deceived you in any way, for example, at least you have learned this lesson now rather than in the future. People will let you down, so why expect perfection from a mass group of humans who are so imperfect?

  * What if I've forgiven them once but they have betrayed me yet again?

Forgive, yet again. Forgiving someone does not mean you have to allow them the same space/energy/opportunity to do it again. You can love your cousin Joe and forgive him for trumping all over your plant bed every time he comes over. However, the next time cousin Joe comes over, you can meet him at the car and show him the alternative way to walking towards your front door - the pavement.

  * What if I've tried to forgive them but every time I'm reminded of the situation or see that person, I'm angry all over again?

Once again, we have to all start to take responsibility for ourselves and in that, our emotions. It may take for you to be removed from that person or situation completely before you can release those thoughts. However, it might be so much easier for you to choose to simply have a different emotion. Focus more on the positives of this person or the situation that you two are in. Practice it the first time you see them and then repeatedly until it becomes a habit. You may fail a few times. There is no set limit to this, but in continuing to practice forgiveness towards people, it will become much easier to live your life this way.

Do not allow anyone to shift you into playing their victim. Don't allow anyone to control you, hinder you, base their happiness on you or simply hold you back. People allow other people to create mountains in front of them without even knowing it. Usually the other person doesn't feel or know about the feeling of betrayal or hurt you have, and that unforgiveness can sit inside of your body like a cancer. How can you easily focus on your goals and your belief and changing your outcomes on life, when most of your weekly, monthly or daily routine is spent focusing on something or someone that has wronged you? Since your thoughts, mind, and actions will revert back to those incidents, you will continue to see more of those hurts rather than the lighter shades of life.

Life will never be perfect, and even child bearing is a little stressful on the mother and child for the first few moments. Yet, in a very small amount of time, the focus becomes not the hours of pain the mother went through or the pain of the unknown that the child is going through. The shift in focus becomes love. The mother looks at the child and usually has faith and belief that this small infant can be, do or ask for anything and she will stop short of the moon to provide it. The child, in return, has no idea of what is going on, but looks at the parents with a trust and faith that says, "No matter what I need, I know you will provide it!"

There may be many of us who have a list of people that we know we need to apologize to. No matter what the situation was or even how old it may be, if it is time for you to go to that person and apologize, then do so immediately. Possessing secrets is like carrying around a bag of luggage everywhere you go and so, even though some people may not even know how you've wronged them, it's necessary to clear the air so it will not hold you back from reaching your full potential. Release yourself from any emotional and mental ties of wrongdoing that you may have committed. At that certain time or at that certain place, wherever the wrong occurred, that particular day is gone and there is nothing anyone can do to rewind it back. You cannot make clear decisions on the future when your mind is bogged down with those bad decisions from the past.

If the person that you've wronged has moved on, then it may be simply necessary for you to write it down and release it. You cannot have full faith in yourself to accomplish the unthinkable when you haven't forgiven yourself for any issues of the past. Regardless, let it go, and as you throw away the paper or hang up the phone from the relative or friend, leave it in the past. There is no more room for this mountain. Every brick, barrier, and hedge must go.

These are some wonderful thoughts that you should never forget:

1. You cannot control another person's temperament.

2. You cannot control another person's destiny.

3. You cannot define another person's perception of life.

4. You cannot expect others to see things or handle things as you would.

5. Your belief or disbelief in another person's failures or accomplishments will have little to no effect on their life.

6. You cannot control another person's actions or choice of words.

7. Others cannot "feel" your emotions so don't expect them too.

8. Your emotions are controllable. Cry, scream, do what you may but don't settle inside of that emotion. Get it out and let it go.

9. Moving forward is a process. When driving a car, first remember that you at least have to get in the vehicle. Continue to move forward in the process of healing.

10. Forgiveness is a gift of time. The quicker you can move out of the way of the storm, the shorter the impact of the thunder.

Finally, you cannot even "control" a child; you can only persuade them to do a certain thing for a certain period of time. Over time, that child may grow into another adult who may make their own decisions contrary to what you taught them.

Don't let a mountain of unforgivness stand in the way of you getting all that you deserve. Apologize. If that person doesn't accept it, you accept it. Forgive. If that person doesn't deserve it, grant them a release from your life anyway. And then, as quick as you can, move on.

6

Living A Life Of Great Expectancy

How is it possible that if someone has faith in something, it could change your life? Well, the evidence is all around you and always has been. There are numerous names of many people who have used faith to move themselves into a magical life. Many people have worked through the smallest odds and achieved the greatest successes and are quick to point out that their lives weren't always so "magical" in the beginning. That is, until one day they woke up, looked around and expected something different.

Think back to a certain situation in your life, no matter how large or small, in which you believed something and it happened. Maybe it was the healthy birth of your child, graduating high school, getting that promotion or even purchasing your first car or home. Think about your faith level and how you never second guessed yourself. It may have taken a lot of hard work, of course, but faith and believing in something that maybe others couldn't see was the underlining factor as to why this became a reality.

The word "faith" and "fact" are interchangeable because anything you have faith in will become fact.

If you believe you will always be mediocre in comparison to others, you probably will. By having faith, you make it fact, so you will always find circumstances and situations to back up your belief. And the sad part is there's nothing anyone else can do about it. That is, except you. On the other hand, if you decide to focus on a specific area of your existence and turn it around 360 degrees, there is also no one that can stop you. What about when the door closes? There are no closed doors. In the event you are met with opposition, there is always another way. If you live your life where failure is not an option, you will always be able to proceed forward.

If you expect it, it will happen.

If you want it, it will come.

It may be that your expectancy in regards to your life needs to shift. Whereas you once thought you would always get the "left overs," you need to shift your thought process and start to have faith (or believe in) you being at the head of the table. Whereas you once thought you could NEVER accomplish a certain goal, you need to shift your thought process and start to have faith (or believe in) this goal being accomplished.

Having a "great expectancy" of life does not require a specific amount of money, time or energy. It's simply a shift of focus. Wherever you are in life is okay to start this process because no matter what, where you are is the best place to begin your journey to where you will be. There is no one who is exempt. The blessings of life aren't available to everyone but you. Rather, they are available to everyone, especially you.

What would you like to achieve?

How much money would you like to have?

Where would you like to reside?

All these questions can only be answered by you. The world is waiting to provide it to you once you've made up your mind. You must expect it to be yours. Know that it is yours, much like your fingerprint. No one else can claim these things for you. However, only you can decide on having enough faith to see it through.

We've all heard the saying, "When it rains, it pours." But usually in your life, when it rained, it stormed and up popped a tornado when you didn't even know it was being created. And then came the hail thumping down on the crops you had planted, and so there goes the summer harvest. Every high triumph was usually short lived by a seemingly unforeseen tragedy. Then, finally, your silver lining came as you yelled out in agony, "This has got to get better! Something has got to give!" And then, for some reason, it did. You never noticed the beautiful flowers that came after the storm. You never said, "thank you" to the sky for providing you with many seasons of peaceful sunsets. Your focus was still on that darn storm. Your tears of joy couldn't flow because you mourned the dead crops from a few seasons ago. You expected it to come again, because next time the storm wasn't going to catch you by surprise. Before long you looked up and there it was, another storm, just as you had expected. For someone who is the author of your own life, you sure have chosen to write a very depressing story!

Why not instead choose to expect and have faith in—

Prosperity

Peace

Long Life

Love

Generosity

Getting a Good Education

A Fulfilling Career

The list goes on and on. If you expect that nothing will change, it won't! The process of the time from where you are now to where you want to be is all up to you.

You are made up of three parts: mind, body and soul. Wherever your mind goes, your body must follow, and your soul will connect you to those things you are continuously focused on. If in your mind you create a great expectancy of achieving all that you desire, your body will head directly towards those things and people will help to bring these things to existence. Your soul will direct you to better decisions and thus your journey will be made. When you get to where you desire, it will not be a foreign concept because you have known all along that your goal was yours. You've expected it, just as you expect the sun to rise in the morning. Your mind has rehearsed this so much that when you get to where you want, you will feel at home. Your faith became fact before the physical manifestation.

Life is created based on your expectancy, or faith level. Every moment of your day is controlled by what you expect and what you choose to focus on. Faith requires focus. Whatever it is that you want out of life will require a strict focus on that particular subject. If you want to have a great day at work, focus on the elements throughout the day that are aiding in that particular desire. Make mental notes of it and see how long your list goes throughout the day.

There is a vast difference between having faith and wishing for a thing to change. Wishing upon a certain thing in life or wanting a certain thing in life requires nothing but a swift thought. A driver in a vehicle at a red light may wish or want another vehicle next to them because of the size or color. This is a far cry from the driver having faith and believing that's THEIR car. The faith part requires a focus that will last longer than a second, a moment or a season. It's a continually mental work until you physically have the thing that you want to possess. It's having the greatest expectation, not that it is possible, or even plausible, but knowing that it's yours.

Convince yourself

This will be my career...

This is how I will be able to help others achieve their goals...

Think about your goals with a smile and a desire so in-depth that it becomes a love affair. Practice being the person you want to be. Start looking in the mirror and seeing yourself as that person you have always wanted to be. It may sound ridiculous, but if you persuade your mind that you deserve what it is that you want and that it's not coming, but is yours already, before long it really will be yours. You cannot focus on poverty and expect abundance. The thought or notion of you being a millionaire may seem like a joke to you now. It may seem so far off and impossible that you just can't have the faith or focus to see it as being true. Because of that, it won't. But if you can see it and feel it, and really focus on the presence of abundance in your life, rather than the lack, it becomes possible.

Remove all mountains and remove all doubt from your daily interactions. Having a great expectation means that even the simplest things that you once had faith in, such as running late on Fridays because the traffic is so bad, will no longer take hold of you. As you grow your faith, you will have to remove doubt and whatever other mountains that have hindered your way. Start each day with the habit of pursuing great expectations.

There is nothing that you want that is not available to you. Therefore, there is nothing that you desire to achieve or have in life that cannot be done. Either you can have enough faith to see it through or you can falter in your faith and expect it to fail. The choice is yours.

If you want a new car, get it. Along the pathway to receiving it, continue having great expectations of knowing that every day you are getting closer to ownership. Wake up every morning expecting to see your car outside and go to sleep every night knowing it rests safely in the driveway.

If you want to change careers, do it. Proceed ahead with the necessary steps to obtain it. As you work your current job, take note of the positive things that you are learning now and make note of how you will use these lessons in your new career.

If you desire a mate, expect that a great love is coming any day now and be prepared by first loving yourself.

If you believe that you will one day fly, the laws of the universe are aligned, and they say t this thing is highly improbable. Yet there are many airports open that have many airplanes that can allow you to glide among the skies in a much more comfortable environment. So soar, close your eyes, expect and believe!

7

Faith Requires Focus

Trouble is anything that makes you uncomfortable. Mountains are elements in your life that have held you back. Trouble is a concept that is relative to the situation. One person may consider their car breaking down as a thirty-minute set back. For another person, this may be a two day experience. One person decides to focus on the problem more, while the other person quickly provides solutions. Both of them are having trouble with their vehicles. If either one wallows in this trouble and spends more time focusing on the fact that the vehicle has broken down rather than the many options to have it repaired, it then becomes a mountain. Some of your troubles have become your mountains. Small situations that were easily fixable are now harder, in part due to your failure to take responsibility for what the thing is and move on from it. You chose to not focus on a resolution but instead ignore things or do anything other than dealing with what was causing the trouble.

A good friend once stated that people have two types of problems: good problems and bad problems. A good problem would include having an excess of funds that came unexpectedly. Bad problems are anything that we allow to grow into mountains by choosing not to focus on the lesson or focus on dealing with the outcome. Either way, the faster you choose to deal with what is troubling to you, the quicker this thing no longer exists in your reality.

Someone, somewhere once lost their job unexpectedly. This was a definite problem due to the abrupt financial burden on them and their family. A few months later, this same person was hired at a different company making significantly more money along with better benefits. When asked if they would go through the process of being jobless again to get their just reward, the reply was, "Definitely." The new job was closer to home, included more seasoned team members who made the job easier, and a boss that was more involved and supportive. Instead of spending a lot of time focusing on the loss of one job, the person had quickly shifted focus by putting themselves in a position to be ready for one until the opportunity finally came.

Another example includes someone who went through a horrendous divorce. It was emotionally, financially and spiritually breaking for them. This was a problem. There were many days this person could barely function due to such heartbreak. Over time, they finally found another love and gained enough courage to attempt this commitment again. When asked if they would go through the process of being single again to get their just reward, the reply was, "In a heartbeat." This person focused on loving themselves more and being ready when love came. This time they were more prepared in dealing with the ups and downs of a relationship.

What's troublesome for us always yields a lesson. You may have found yourself in situations that have seemed hopeless in the past, but these challenges in life have given you the courage and knowledge of all that you are made of. You are an indestructible force, and through the power of faith you have found out that you can handle many situations others cannot. Your past is riddled with many obstacles that you have learned and grew from. During childhood, you were often punished for doing "the wrong thing," but through the pain of those punishments, you learned keen behaviors that have helped you so much during adulthood.

However, you choosing to react to your trouble determines if it will develop into a mountain. There are many relationships that are mountains in our lives simply because we continue to react in the wrong manner. There are many situations that have presented themselves to us, but we failed to take advantage due to our lack of knowing how to react. To expect greatness and to have faith that your life will go in a certain direction, you need to continue to shift your focus on the things that you can control. Pay attention to the positives of life and you will start to easily see that it's so much more available than what you may have assumed. When driving down the highway of life, any one human may dreadfully make the mistake of turning down a dead-end street. Do you stay there? Do you mumble and grumble about the street and focus on the absence of a sign that should have let you know? Do you focus on the frustration of why the street is there in the first place? There is a simpler way, and that is to focus on the fact that at least now you know this is a dead end. Get the lesson. Then turn around.

What are you focusing on daily? Do your perceptions of life include what you don't have or opportunities that you perceive aren't available? Are you often focusing on what others don't do for you instead of realizing how many there are around you that provide you with happiness? Is your speech and body language negative? Life is choices and what you focus on determine at a high majority of what you will always see.

You may have to fight for your focus. You may also have to stagger your way through your goal in stages. For example, if you want to see yourself in a position of a positive financial independence, it may be hard for you to have faith in it being a total reality. Now, what may be easier to believe and focus on is the few people or businesses that you owe small debts. Paying those debts off is a great point to begin your financial freedom. Then you could go on to conquer bigger debts because now the mountain of is coming down, brick by brick, as you start towards your goal. Some of these businesses that you owe may have settlement amounts that are much lower than the total balances. Along the way, feel your financial independence, even though this process hasn't completely manifested into your life yet. Wake up every day with the focus of being "free" from ALL bad debts.

Focusing on your goal until it is completely obtained may not be a swift and easy process. There may be rough environments and hard conversations that you have to have with yourself in the fight to keep control of what you focus on. Others may continue to relay conversations and comments that you will have to mentally and emotionally block out. However, holding on to a direct focus on your goals in life will become easier if you remember that you are the only one who can determine your destiny. You are the only one who can change your own life. If you really want to do something, and it is in your will to complete the task, it can be done by having faith. On the contrary, if you do not have faith enough to focus on what you want and develop faith enough to see it through; no one else will do it for you.

All of this will require work, but a majority of the work is accomplishing the mental state of having faith and focusing on your specific goals. People will come to you to provide you with the tools you need. Money will not be held back from you and opportunities will present themselves, the more you focus on your goal.

Imagine if you will that your great grandfather left you an inheritance. That inheritance is the physical manifestation of whatever it is that you want out of life. It is the open door to whomever it is that you have always wanted to be. There is a paperwork process to this, however. Those darn lawyers have to sort out the legal matters, but they have informed you, yes, it is yours!

The attorneys call you every day to work out the specifics of this thing. They want you to spend a suitable amount of time focusing on what you have coming to you as a gift because the details and specifics have to be decided on by you. There are many other questions that have to be answered.

  * There is a specific amount of money that you desire to obtain this year. What is it? Are your bank accounts currently balanced and ready to receive it? Have you resolved all debts so as the full amount of the gifts can be yours?

  * There is a certain business that you have desired to open. Where is the location and how is the business structured? There are certain tax laws that you will have to research among the many other things associated with starting this business. The attorneys are requesting this information to be sent to them immediately.

  * There is a specific destination that you have wanted to travel to. Where is the destination and what arrangements will need to be made?

  * There is a career path that you will like to move towards. What is the environment like and what will be the salary? The attorneys will need to know the specifics of the working hours, time to travel from your home to the new place of employment and other details that only you can provide.

Focusing is working out the details along the journey to receiving. The particulars you don't know or are not sure of make up the work that you must do. Making your vision precisely clear to others needs to become your daily habit. The vision that you have pertaining to your goals should be so detailed that a five year old child could understand it. There are many of us who have stated that we desired to become a teacher. Yet there are very few who know the exact classes that must be taken, at the exact school they perceive will be best for them, and the exact credentials their particular state requires for licensing. Their focus is instead on the fact that they are not a teacher now. Those people have parked at the end of the dead end street.

Imagine if one person told the attorneys their goal was to get a new car by the end of the year. This was the gift that the great-grandfather had left them. In requesting the details, the person replied with, "just a new car." The attorney called them in frustration due to the fact that there are millions of new cars that are being manufactured this year. The person replied with the answer of receiving a "new black car." The attorney became frustrated because out of all those millions of cars, a majority of them could be found in the color black. The person then supplied a detail of it being a "foreign car." Although the attorney wanted to quit the case, he gave this person one more chance to find out and focus on the details. Finally, the person combed through the details of all of the new cars, went to a few lots to complete test drives, checked on insurance prices and premiums, and finally made a direct specific decision on exactly which new car they were going to own. It took some work finding the details, but this is in direct correlation to shifting focus on where you are heading and not where you are. By knowing you are receiving the inheritance or gift or blessing, you should automatically use your faith to focus on its arrival.

Surely this has to be real because these lawyers wait for you every morning and all they want to know are more and more specifics. And so it would be good if you spent a little time each day focusing more and more on what you need to do physically - not to obtain great grandfather's gift, but then what? The fact that you have the inheritance, which is based on faith, has now transitioned into fact because your focus is now on the specifics of what you will do then, instead of focusing on your lack of being that person now. It is true (whatever it is that you want). It is real (whatever it is that you desire to be). Perhaps you need to design your business cards or re-arrange your office because more business is coming. Maybe you need to spend more time focusing on polishing up your voice in preparation for performing in front of a large audience. Some may need to find many things to do with their time in knowing that their inheritance is strength and a healthy body. Whatever it is that your grandfather has given you as an inheritance, focus on the specifics of it daily and spend a little time letting the attorneys know the details.

Choose what you want to focus on, and only focus on what you want. The house is dirty, yes, but it is yours and it will not take much to clean it up. The relationship is bad, yes, but it won't take much to repair it. This and everything else that you want can and will happen when you want it to. It's all up to you. All that you want, dream of, and desire is up to you to receive whenever you like. Just focus on the elements happening now that are leading up to it. Throw out the things in your mind that are contrary to where you want to go. Focus on the positives, focus on the preparation and focus on the direct specifics. Read about it, research it, touch it and see it every day. Your inheritance is yours!

8.

How Faith Is Activated

From as far as I can remember, my mother has always been an actress. I can remember her walking around the house rehearsing the lines as she cooked and cleaned, and applying makeup and going through her wardrobe backstage before performances. She would be so far gone into her character that she wouldn't answer when I would utter out "Mamma." Even now, when she is in character, the mother, grandmother, and business manager ceases to exist from the moment she is on stage until the final curtain call. Actors and actresses usually transform themselves during performances. They "become" their character by commandingly adjusting their speech, mannerisms, tone, and demeanor to match their character as they work their craft. Faith is activated within us in this same manner. Your faith is not just a quick thought that pops into your head, only to be quickly replaced by another. You activate, or work out your faith through every outlet of your body. This is why it is important to safely monitor what you see, what you say, what you hear, where you go, and what you "touch" or put labor towards.

Whatever you focus on through sight usually dominates your thoughts. It's important to make sure that you start to surround yourself with pleasing images and those things that are in direct correlation with how you want your life's journey to play out. Those things that you speak about yourself and towards others are imperative to your faith. You should always choose to speak good health, positive affirmations, and prosperity about your life and those around you. You should only listen or completely hear those things that will aid into your development of achieving greatness. Listen clearly to those people that have stepped before you and achieved similar goals to what you are seeking. Don't receive too much into anything or anyone that provides you negative feedback or language.

Attempt to go places that project positive images and that will ideally put yourself around the people that can help aid to your achievements. If your current environment is not this place, seek out and find one more pleasing. Musicians always know more musicians, and if this is the path you are pursing, find those people. Place yourself in the activating stage of faith by becoming your character.

Pilots are usually always found inside or near airports. They frequent the hotels, restaurants, and sightseeing places that keep them in a quick vicinity of who they are. Unless they are on an extended rest period, truck drivers follow this same pattern. Near truck stops you will always find a nice group of them huddled together when there is no work, participating in leisure activities, still in their environment. While searching for a home years ago, I found that the houses near a certain hospital where sustainably higher in cost than others in the neighborhood. The salesperson gave me a simple explanation for the increase in cost. "Most doctors stay near the hospital," she told me. "They are accustomed to paying a little more than the average person." People become accustomed to placing themselves around an environment supportive to how they see themselves. For this same reason, successful people seem to speak more about success, while those in poverty speak more about lack. This is why it is important to change the way you speak, change the places to which you go, and change the images you see. No matter what your situation may be or how far off you are from where you want to be, you can activate your faith or speed up the process of getting there by being in that position now. It is the exact same concept of getting into character.

I grew up in Memphis TN, which is known as the home of the blues and rock and roll. Music and melody was everywhere, and so it was a common occurrence to be surrounded by many people who wanted to pursue this as a career. Over time, I have been able to see a lot of talented people who have since gone on to perform all around the world in front of huge audiences. I've also witnessed many who haven't made it. I got a chance to study the habits of one local artist as he developed a passion for this art form. At an early age, he would sit at his mother's kitchen table and write out different verses for songs. Most of them would end up either in the garbage can or on the floor. As a pre-teen, he got a manager and started performing at local high school shows, some of which were not accepted by the audiences. He would spend time practicing on interviews with his other family members and pretending as if these interviews where televised. He would also "brand" everything by drawing his logo and image on store purchased shoes and t-shirts. As friends would question his abilities and dreams, they were quickly dismissed as no longer being friends, and there were many shows in which only his family members were there in support. He spent countless hours listening to the radio imagining that his song was playing, all the while autographing his name on everything as if there were crowds of people wanting it. He became his character.

This same local artist is now finding a hard time booking shows because his schedule is so full. Every song he sends to radio is immediately played before a listening audience of thousands and many of the very people who doubted and dismissed him are always calling in pursuit of getting his help in any way. Now, he is married to his manager and is a C.E.O. of two successful businesses. Now there are crowds of people who want his autograph and many fans that support his vision and quickly purchase his music. Currently, many are calling and requesting him to perform at their showcases, and he is using his talents to develop other musicians. He is only twenty-one years old.

In order to believe that whatever you want to achieve is yours, you must be it now, see it now, only allow yourself to hear it now, and do the thing now that you want to do. It's possible to have a full time job in one area while still pursuing what you desire to be your career. It's possible now to live what it is that you want. In a twenty-four hour day it is possible to take one hour and dedicate it completely and fully to your goal. If you have faith enough in your goal, you will make room for whatever it is that you want to be in pursuit of. Activate your faith instead of simply thinking and dreaming about it. Put yourself in that position. As children, we were taught to look at images and quickly dismiss "what doesn't belong." There may be many things in your life that are concurrent to what you have faith in. Get rid of whatever does not belong.

You may have thought that the life you are living is the one that has been handed to you. It's possible to now see that you can have the life that you have dreamed about. It's possible to see that nothing created is able to stop you, and by using the faith principle, every question you have had regarding, "I wonder, can I..." is always answered with a yes. Have fun with life. Consider yourself a child with a piece of chalk and continue to draw out those things that you want for yourself.

Getting into character, like my mother still does, is a very entertaining process. It allows you to completely block out what doesn't fit. There are many rehearsals or tries in life. When things go wrong, you simply rehearse or try again. You still remain in character. You still continue to pursue all that it is you desire. There may be many shows in which no one shows up. Still, do your performance. Before long you will have a sold out show in front of millions, and they will look up at you and see you in that image, because it will become real. Block out reality for the moment and go to the place that will bring you joy. Get back into reality and take that character with you. Faith will make that particular thing true. There will be many critics who show up on different days and provide you with criticism, but this is what they do. Expect it. Do not change your performance. Tomorrow you will have an even better show. No one has to know what the show is about or even agree that the ending is good, but you. You are the writer, director, and the full cast. The performance of life is all your own. If writing is your passion, do the things a writer does. Speak how a writer speaks and become what it is that you want to become, a writer. If pursing the military is your passion, go out and visit as many active and retired military as you can in your pursuit to join. These servicemen and women usually get up early in the morning and work out. Start doing this now. Become who it is that you want to be. It doesn't matter who you are now because when the stage lights go up and the curtain is pulled back, you have the stage of life all to yourself to do all that it is you desire. There is no one in the audience who can tell you that this thing is wrong. There is no one in the audience who will know that you have stumbled over a line. Everyone will come to see your performance.

9.

Telling Them What To Do

Many have told you that you will not be able to see your vision come to fruition until this "certain thing" happens. They have offered you their just conclusions as to how it is you will receive the position you desire. Their road for you is long and narrow. They provide you with endless options regarding your happiness. Option B or Thing C will be much easier to accomplish, and they would rather you focus on it. Yet, any of those two options or anything else that anyone suggests will always come second to your love for that particular thing that you have always wanted to do/be/have.

If someone was to tell you to "be selfish," this thought would instantly make you uncomfortable. From kindergarten we are taught to share everything. Yet, when it comes to faith and your desires and goals, do not expect others to always support you. But this is the secret; no one else has to. You may need to remove the mountain of hearing, seeing and believing what others have to offer towards your goal. It's better to remember that all thoughts, dreams, aspirations and goals are all your own, and that in the process of developing yourself into the person that you want to be, there will be many that may be left behind.

Many of your loved ones were trained up in fear and doubt and to take life "as is." In doing so, they traded mountains to each other daily on how "not" to achieve greatness and how we should fear and run from any form of abundance. The opinion of others is an important mountain to move out of your way. This is a mistake that many have made into a habit. Hurt people are the ones that hurt people, and when our loved ones have failed in specific areas, they may offer you the opinion that you will also fail. It's not because they don't want what's best for you, but instead the feeling of failure that they had to endure is an emotion they don't want you to feel. Some people will not understand where you are directing your life because right now, as things are, it is so pleasing to them. Those around you that are continuing to live in the "facts" of today may not understand your consumption in the "faith" of tomorrow. The "Faith" Principle has always worked in your life, but the fear of how others will react has yielded you from seeing its magnificent power. Your perception of how others will see you may have held you back from getting all that life has to offer.

There was a third generation banker who had found himself unhappy every day he went to work. He never liked the banking business, although it did provide him with substantial financial abundance. After fifteen long years of doing the same daily processes over and over, one day he decided to have faith and step out into a new career. There was nothing in life that he enjoyed more than being a chef.

His wife screamed that being a "cook" would never pay enough. His co-workers joked that by being a chef, his hands wouldn't be as nice and manicured as they usually are. There was also the best friend who refused to help with providing information on culinary schools because it would be "such a waste of time." Not to mention that both his father and grandfather found the notion disturbing and requested he go on a two week vacation instead. The banker finally did go on to culinary school and graduate. He is now going to work every day with a grand smile on his face.

Maybe you should be a little selfish. Maybe you should do what's pleasing to you for once because the chances of repeating life are none. Maybe you should do/be/have whatever it is that you desire and not count on the endless amounts of doubt that others may easily provide for you. Maybe you should live your life to the fullest and not attempt to explain or adjust your joy for any other person.

The Faith Principle works for all of us at the same time. It's similar to driving down a city road and noticing the many restaurant choices that we now have. Housed only a few feet from each other are several different well known hamburger places that all operate at the same time, serve similar menu items, and are individually successful. Your life is like that, although you have been told differently. You can achieve what someone else may have failed in. You can achieve what someone else already has. You can achieve what nobody else has ever done in the history of man. By faith, you can achieve whatever it is that you desire.

It doesn't matter that one CEO went "this route" to get his business started, or another CEO has "inherited" his rights and that's how he got the money to start his business. This doesn't mean your business will fail because your journey may be different. You are writing your own story. The developments of how you will obtain your desires will most likely come as a surprise, but it is yours. Be comfortable in the fact that others will supply their opinions. Be comfortable in the fact that others will have visions similar to your own. None of these things matter. All that matters is you.

A vision is a particular thing or image that you see, and that is in part due to the fact that only one person (you) has your eyes. Don't expect others to completely see what you see. Many will provide support, but there will also be some who will honestly never understand. It's not your job to convince them. It's your job to convince yourself. Everyone that you are friendly with does not have to be your friend, and everyone that may seem as if they have positioned themselves to be a pillar to hold you up, may fall down before the building is completely built.

The topic "telling them what to do" does not just mean other people. It also means any obstacles that have hindered you from getting what you want. These may be mental obstacles that have created mountains in front of you. There is a student who has refused to get a failing grade in a class where every other student told him it was going to be "hard." The student refused to have this one class decrease his GPA. There was the employee who was told over and over again that the company was on a "hiring freeze for two years." The employee sent in a resume every week for a year. He was hired during the hiring freeze. There was the child who was adopted and told by a state agency that she would not be able to find out any information on her birth parents. After two years of research, she was able to meet her father and visit the gravesite of her mother. Even though this was a somber event, she kept going until she got the closure she desired.

There is no difference between these people and you. Instead of being told what was possible, they went forward as if it was possible and made this thing they wanted all their own. In telling "them" what to do, it simply means standing firm in your vision/dreams/desires and moving forward one step at a time. Along the way, gather up your support team but quickly get rid of anything or anyone that will stand in your way. This will not be the easiest thing to do, but I have many friends who have nothing to do with my business, and many businesspeople whom I would never allow to meet my friends. Just like there is a separation of church and state, there should be a definite separation of the people I allow in the front seat and those that are in my life only for the ride.

People will not only be the only pebbles you will have to remove from the mountain but also objects. We've held on to items for so long that they have become a hedge to our progression in life. There is no reason to keep mementoes that bring hurt and pain, especially when you are in the process of healing. If there are any objects that bring dissatisfaction or remembrances of a life you no longer want to live, why hold on to them? Objects have energy, and if this certain thing brings back negative energy, you may need to get rid of it. That energy produces a thought, and those thoughts will cause you to focus on the past instead a much broader future.

There are many supportive people that will believe and have faith in whatever you desire out of life. There are people that are so well connected to us that our happiness is a part of their happiness. Usually the problem is that our failures in life or even when we simply change our mind or direction irritates or upsets these supportive people. For every one person that is a negative upon your life, you will need to replace them with two other people who actually do care to balance it all out. Why? Because just as quick as you can change your mind and direction on life, others can too. This is why it is so important not to place the development and faith on your dreams and give that power to someone or something else. Others can't see what you see, so it is important that you design the particulars of your vision. It's important that you tell whatever is standing in your way as a mountain, or whoever it may be that has told you this thing is not possible, to go! You should tell them exactly what to do.

10.

The Fearing Agents

By now you should remember some elements of faith that you may have forgotten. You should feel ready for the world and inspired to do all that it is you desire. You should know how the faith principle works and can think of many instances in which it has worked before. You may begin the processes of developing your faith to believe that it will work for you again. You should now be able to face one of the biggest mountains that exist. It is the one that has grown with us over time and has become such a staple within our lives that this mountain has appeared to always be unmovable, even by the slightest bit. It is the mountain of fear.

Fear is your greatest enemy. There was a time when you enjoyed roller coaster rides. When you were younger this was a great pastime, but as time passed, fear started to take the "fun" out of it all. Now you leave that sort of joy to the children. You're too busy worrying about the "what if's" of this machine failing rather than sitting back and enjoying the ride. Life is a roller coaster ride; there will be ups and downs and unexpected turns, yet you should not lose the faith of knowing that you will always have a safe end. Along the way you have been taught to fear the pulleys or wonder about the training of the young teenager who controls the gears. You have failed to notice the wind and the trees and how you are soaring in the skies amongst the birds. Instead you concentrate on the fearing agents that are out there. They are like the monsters hiding under your bed. No matter how your day goes, they return every night to remind you to "fear" things you never really see.

Fearing agents include anything that will provide you with the assumption there is any other option but succeeding. They come into our lives through people, events, items, and anything else allowable through our senses. An undeveloped picture is a negative and anything that causes you to only get a glimpse of accomplishing your goals is negativity that needs to be demolished from your life. It leaves you undeveloped. Fear provides you with no color, no dimensions, and no clear image. The answer to fear is always "no." The options that fearing agents leave you with are always limited. Fear is a mental, physical and emotional abuser and is always looking to both attack and counterattack you in any area that you focus on. It is highly contagious. As one person allows fear to attack their lives, they may use it to attack yours. They are scared to succeed and thus they will offer this fearing agent to you.

Yet, nothing you desire is impossible. If you knew that at the end of your journey you would get everything you have faith in, you would enjoy the ride a little more. You would smile during the twists and turns and throw your hands up in joy whenever you hit a big dip. You would remember that the ride to pursing what you desire is scary and rigid and unpredictable, yet the arrival to the endpoint is guaranteed. Who would request for the ride to stop? Who would ask along the way for a means to get off? You have, by allowing the fear agents to get into your life and control your destiny.

It's hard to give a physical description of fear because it molds itself to each individual's personal dreams and desires. There is a young lady who wanted to pursue traveling more and had it in her heart to do so, but she kept reminding herself that her mother and grandmother had both died of breast cancer. The fear of being sick kept her in her home city. She always wanted to remain close to the family doctor "just in case." Instead of using the faith principle to see the world, she allowed fear to constantly remind her of death. All the while she was missing out on the glory of life. Fear conjures up images in your mind that are contrary to your desires. It speaks through people, as others will try to dismay you or provide you with solid and specific reasons as to why you will definitely fail. It does not work on trial and error because it makes no errors. Every attempt of communication, thought or action that is contrary to your heart's dreams are all components of fear. These are all fearing agents. On the other hand, doubt is much tougher to recognize.

Doubt comes in a whisper. Doubt comes through asking others what they think about your dreams, then taking into consideration their feelings about your goals. Doubt comes adrift on a sea when instead of focusing on the beautiful ocean waves, you wonder about all the many different creatures in the water and how they may harm you. Doubt will allow you to question if your dream is even possible, although "faith" and "fact" will tell you that millions have obtained it before you. Doubt comes when we feel that the roller coaster ride is taking too long to come to an end. Then you start to look out and see if anyone is still in control of the computer board that operates it. You're missing out on enjoying the ride. You're thinking to yourself why in the world you decided to get on the ride anyway. You look at the other passengers and take in their emotions. They are scared and thus you started to get even more fearful.

Fear and doubt are two of the strongest components involved in failure. It's not that you have failed in your dream, but instead you let fear and doubt stop you before you completed the task of developing it. Our world continually projects, celebrates and showcases elements of fear and doubt. The most popular television shows are those that deal with death and poverty. The most popular guy or girl in high school is usually the one that continued to break all of the rules. The most respected manager at the job is the one who all the employees fear. We take that fear and create a passion for it and allow it to spiral its way into our personal growth and development. You may desire to start your own business, but as you listen to the news stations and pass by the many "closed down" signs on the way to work, you push off your goal because it's much safer to work where you are. You may desire to get a promotion on your job, but as you speak to your co-workers who have tried and failed, you settle with where you are because it's now "impossible" in your head.

Fear doesn't provide evidence. It assumes. Faith becomes fact, because if only one person (you) believes you can achieve something, you can. In a court of law this would be an easy case, but in your life you have allowed fear to state its assumptions for years.

"What if...." is a statement that has no end. If you were walking along the beach on a sunny day and saw a young man covered from head to toe in raingear and holding an umbrella, this would be odd. If you were to ask him, "Why are you wearing raingear when the weather is so perfect?" If he was to answer, "But what if it starts to rain?" you would possibly think he was insane. The weather is so beautiful today, and as the sun shines down on him and sweat pours from his head, instead of taking a dip in the ocean, which is only a few feet away, he is preparing for a storm. This is an example of living with fear.

Over time the seasons will change, but in this current season you are in, why go around in fear of the next? Instead of preparing for the fullness of life, you may have instead prepared for the lack. You've opened your mailbox and prepared yourself for bills instead of checks. You've went out on dates and prepared yourself for a bad time instead of preparing to enjoy yourself in the pursuit of finding your mate. You've looked inside your refrigerator and prepared yourself for signs of poverty instead of embracing prosperity and having faith in tomorrow. You have went to work and prepared for a "lack-luster" day instead of embracing the blessing of having the job and having some enjoyable co-workers. Lastly, you may have been like me and went to work preparing to get fired. You've allowed fear to run your life instead of faith, and doubt continued to show up because they are bosom buddies. Every night they have come into your mind, and you have given them the authority to do so. They have invaded your conversations and relationships, and along the way they have enjoyed themselves, but you on the other hand have not.

Once you remove fear and doubt, faith will enter your life and it will feel like a breath of fresh air. There is freedom in having faith. You start to feel younger again because there is no time better than right now for you to move towards accomplishing your goal. You will start to notice things and people that will aid you in getting all you want to receive. As struggles come, you will feel more like you are going with the flow because everything that is happening is guiding you towards happiness and joy. This feeling will come automatically, but you may have to start practicing releasing fear daily before it becomes a habit. Before long you will become a testimony to others as to how fear is a disabler. It's almost like taking the training wheels off your bike for the first time. Feel the freedom in having faith and moving forward.

11.

Resurrect The Dead

There are short lists of people who absolutely love going to funerals. For most of us, that event is usually filled with sorrow and a time of mourning. The music is always melancholy, and no matter what time of day it is, an overcast seems to gloom. There are usually a few speakers who try to make light remarks about how this person was an inspiration to them in some way. Finally, a clergyman stands in front of us all and speaks, not on death itself, but how we should learn how to live. A funeral is rarely a joyful event and yet some of us have continued to labor in these feelings of debt, loss, hurt, pain and discord. There are many goals that we have once wanted to accomplish, but as time has passed along, we have allowed it to die. When it seemed that we had failed to have enough faith to mature it into full manifestation, we killed it and buried it among the beautiful fall trees up on a hill high away from us. It was never thought of again.

It's not too late for you to believe in something that you haven't in a while. It's not too late to become who you have once wanted to be. It's never late to obtain the thing you still see and still want but have failed to have enough faith to have as your own. The road from North Carolina to California is a long one, and for some reason along the way you decided to detour in Nebraska. There are many roads still carved out for you to get to California, even though you have found Nebraska to be a nice resting place.

Your faith can never be completely dried out. It's never a fact that everything "may possibly" change in this area or another. It's always a fact that everything "will" change, but the object of timing is whenever you want it to. The longer you spend crying over the death of something in your life, the longer its funeral. This "thing" didn't work out, as you had little faith that it would. That does not mean it never will. Your object of attention should always be on its arrival and not on the lapse of time that it takes to get there.

It is just as possible for you to obtain this particular thing as for you to get back in your vehicle, in that place of Nebraska, and start again on your journey towards California. It is always possible and plausible to resurrect those things of the past that you thought held no merit.

You're not too old or young to accomplish this thing. You're not too overweight or uneducated or inexperienced. You're not too enabled or have too many children or too many personal problems for you to get whatever you have faith in. You can resurrect any dreams and desires that you've previously had. It's possible you didn't know how the faith principle worked. It's also possible now that you know you can still use it to get into that position that you once dreamed of.

You may have wanted to go back to school, but one school turned you down. Instead of applying to another institution, you buried the idea. You stopped having faith. You didn't create a mountain, you created a graveyard. And now that graveyard is full of high expectations that you once had for yourself. Those things have never left you. Those things are still available for you. Those things are waiting to be pulled up from six feet of doubt and fear, and now you have to have the tools to do so. It's called Faith.

You can change your fate by changing your faith or your belief in receiving a particular thing or position. This can be before or after you reach your goal. There may be a person who has always wanted to own a daycare center and obtained this very dream through faith and dedication. Somewhere in the process of doing so, they realized this was not going to bring them happiness. Working with groups of children is not a gift that every one of us shares. This person enjoyed more of the process of opening the business, and so instead of focusing on the day to day operations, through faith they changed their life goal into helping others start businesses. It's fine and well if, on your way to California, you find that Nevada is a better place. As long as that is the position where you find happiness, joy and peace, it is always just fine.

Through using the process of "resurrecting" the dead things, you may find that what you once thought were failures were instead life lessons that you may have needed in order to get to the place you desire. You may look back on your life and find out that at certain points there where things you needed to learn and people you needed to contact in order to enhance the experience that you desire.

A great businessman once stated that, "Nothing in life is really a failure, but instead an opportunity." Instead of killing the idea or dream that you once had, you should instead nurture it. But this doesn't mean that now isn't the time to resurrect it. There are many roses in your garden that you assumed wouldn't come back again, but they did. There are many places you have seen that you may have felt you would never get a chance to see again, but you can. There are many things you've wanted that you once thought were impossible to receive, but they are still awaiting your arrival. Who is the one who has given you a timeline as to when your life is over? Unless you are dead in this moment, a literal, physical death, it's still possible to do whatever you once believed in.

Faith does not run out of time. Children immediately develop faith and thus their lives are filled with freedom, happiness and joy. Usually, they have no idea of their lack in a certain area until they become a certain age and observe how others are living. They're "mountain-less" creatures that can be easily yielded to believe whatever it is that loved ones tell them. You have also had faith in certain areas, but some of the more "far-off" goals have died within you. You doubted that it would never come and then you finally completely killed it. Greatness is always still available for you. Your current situation doesn't matter, and however far off you are from obtaining your goals, it is still the perfect place for you to reach them.

Lastly, the most used name on public streets in the United States is "Second Street." Most cities, no matter the population size, have this street name within their vicinity. This is also the way most of us live our lives. There have been many times you have driven to work and ran out of gas. Did you stop at the gas station and sit there or did you fill up and keep going? You can fill back up on faith in any area and still keep striving. Were you ever in a pool of water swimming and felt the need to come up for air? Did you take a moment to do so or decide to simply get out of the water, pack it up and leave? Anything that has landed in your path and tried to stop you from obtaining your goal is fine because you can still receive it. Any time you feel has been lost can be recuperated. Any monies you may feel have been diminished can be returned again in multiples. Renew your mind and resurrect the dead things in your life. You are so special and unique, and the possibilities of where life can still take you are endless.

12

Just Hold Hands & Sing

What do you expect out of your personal relationships? So many of us have spent years surrounding ourselves with people who take more than what they give. Many of us are in relationships that are neither fulfilling nor rewarding in any way. Any person or thing that you spend more than twenty four hours associating with is a relationship, and how you handle that relationship becomes critical regarding any level of success that you are striving for. You may have a boss now, even though you plan on being the boss later, so how you handle this relationship is important. It's possible that you have only a computer now, but in wanting to one day have a complete home office, it's important that you treat this one item with care so as to not have to purchase another one. A relationship is developed when anything you come into contact with lasts more than this twenty-four hour period. But even those things that may not last the full extent of the twenty-four hours need to be handled with care. The most important of these is your relationship with people.

There was a highly successful team of car salesmen who each made a lot of money in their field. One was a woman that hated the long hours of sitting and waiting on customers, while having to listen to the other three young men talk about sports all day. Another one only wanted to sell cars for the summer because he couldn't find the funding needed to finish college. As customers would come up and write checks for the purchase of their vehicles, he would continually remind himself, "This could be me, but if it was me, I would be spending more than that." The second male and third person was an older gentleman who resented the technologies of today. He would sit and watch the "could be college kid" and shrug at why he was on his cellar phone all day. The last guy loved the car business but hated that he had to have the competition of three others in getting a sale each day. He would walk around and catch customers as soon as they pulled up, rarely giving the others the opportunity to see a guest unless he was busy.

Before long, all four of them had enough of their differences. Even though each one was cordial in their daily greetings, their individual personalities made it a challenge to work together. The manager of the car lot wasn't the best at negotiating and so he gave them the best advice that he could give, "Shut up, hold hands and sing." In other words, he was saying, get over your personal feelings and needs, do the job and go home. Create a joyful relationship with each other and that's that. At the end of the day, all four were successful in selling vehicles and that was what mattered.

There is a lot of control and contempt in knowing that regardless of how others treat you, how you treat them in return is what's most important. There is a lot of joy in releasing others to have their own faith in whatever it is they desire and finding joy in them receiving the benefits. There is much more happiness in sharing the faith principle with others as situations permit themselves but not subscribing to control them. Don't create mountains for other people. Don't block them for living the life they want to live. Remember that the goal you set before yourself is all your own, and it is very much possible to be in a situation with others who don't live by faith, and still live within harmony.

There is not enough faith in the world to change someone. It just won't happen unless this person wants it to happen. For example, your father may have demanded with all his might that you "straighten out" and get your life on track. In all honesty, this didn't happen until YOU wanted it to. The same theology applies to the people you have a relationship with. There is no freedom in being controlled, and as you have faith and use the faith principle, allow others to flourish into who they are however they want to do it. It's possible for you to have dominant faith in the fact that a person will change. But wouldn't it feel better if you would have faith on them simply being happy. Who they are now and who they will be tomorrow are governed by certain things and neither of which is what you think about them.

Others will put themselves in harmful situations, but sometimes we must even allow our own children to learn about life. There is no hurt in making a suggestion, but never take it to heart when a person goes left after your persuading argument for them to go right. Just as there are many others who have tried to govern your life, allow others to govern their own. There are many ways to communicate things peacefully, but never subject yourself to being hurt or harmed by another's choice of their life journey.

"Just hold hands and sing," is a strategy used by many performance companies. They are collective groups of individuals that gather together to perform, and usually neither have complete harmony with each other until they have learned to deal with their differences. Each person has a different specific goal and reasoning as to why they are in the group, but they still continue to perform. They accept the fact that "this is where I am right now" and disassociate it with "this is where I need you to go." Your faith will always only affect you. This is seen in the relationship between the elderly grandmother who chose to believe every day that her grandson will one day finally decide to go back to college and finish school. Her faith grows daily and her greatest expectation is that he will one day come to her home and tell her that he has finally decided to go back to school. Years later, he finally does. But it is not because of her faith in him. She could have continued to believe for years more that he would do this. Yet, it was his faith in himself, and him finally deciding and choosing to go back to school. You can't move anyone else's mountain, and you cannot "believe" someone else into doing anything.

We as humans share one common thing, our ability to make our own choices. It is easier and far more fulfilling to live our own personal lives than to try to control others. In the event that you have perceived to be a puppet master over people, rest assured that this is not at all possible.

  * Your longtime boyfriend may choose to break up right before the wedding. You could dream upon a star that he will return, but he will not, until he wants too.

  * Your sister may decide to dye her hair a different color every week, and as time passes by she looks more ridiculous to you than the moments before. You could spend countless hours begging her not to do this, but only at the moment that she decides to will she stop.

If you spend all your time in life trying to remove other's mountains, their stones will roll over to yours. Their problems will become yours, and unless you get personal joy out of having stress, heartache, and taking on another's pain on top of your own, you will live a lot more stress-free if you let people be who they are and simply choose to love them or not for who they are. Again, if someone places themselves in a position of hurt and pain, it's obvious to provide them with as much help as you can comfortably do so. Although it's very important to remember that every one of us has free will, and as hard as this may be to understand, there are many who will never be who we expect them to be. They will be, achieve and receive, exactly what they want.

However you expect your relationships with others to go, that is what you will receive.

Have you noticed that the relationship between you and your co-worker seems to intensify by the day? You never liked him and he never liked you, and the mere sight of that person walking towards you makes you upset. It's a better feeling for you to get stopped by the traffic police. For another example, have you figured out that the relationship between your in-laws is always strained? They show up unannounced, pounce through your house as if it's their own, and to make matters worse, your mate doesn't seem to mind. Because, through faith, you get what you expect.

  * There is a teenager who mutters about having to always replace their cell phones. No matter the cost, this teenager seems to always lose, drop, or get a malfunctioning one. This is the dynamic of their relationship with cell phones. They speak about it, believe it, expect it and then see it.

  * There is the couple that has been together for five years but most of their relationship is built on the fact that they fight so much. Even during the good times, they each sit and wait for the other to do or say something to spark a fight. When things are going too good they usually bring up the last fight and before long, in a few days, they are fighting again.

Everyone is getting what they expect, and so in our relationships we get whatever we are having faith in. It's a journey to get where you are to where you want to be, but along the way you can only direct one vehicle, yours.

Remember "faith" is "fact," so when you speak negatively about others, you are focusing on that negativity instead of the more positive elements about your relationship. When you expect the worse to happen with a certain person, remember that you have a choice to control yourself so your reaction or failure to deal with that person is your option. When someone refuses to forgive another for past hurts, it creates a mountain. Have faith in one's happiness instead. Support dreams through motivational avenues with others. Seek to always find the good in people and celebrate their ambitions no matter if you have those same desires or not. Be the person that you want others to be and watch your life become more glorious. Grab hands with those around you regardless of your many differences, get back into the performances of life and sing. Attempt harmony. Smile. Live by faith knowing that everyone you come in contact with will be blessed in some way.

13.

What You Now Remember

Faith is the simplest principle in the world. Whatever you desire in life or have faith in, is what you will get. These desires come through each one of your outlet temples; what you see, what you hear, and also what you say. Words are so powerful because what we say is a direct correlation to what we think. It may be impossible for you to imagine yourself as a millionaire at this point, and that is part of the reason why you are not. It may be impossible for you to really imagine yourself happy in a relationship or driving a certain car or being in a certain career path. You may look upon these things and want it, but it takes more than a simple "wanting" or "wishing." Rather, faith is a strong desire that becomes so ridiculous you see yourself having that thing or obtaining it before you physically have it. You convince yourself that you have that thing and the power of knowing you have it (before the physical manifestation) brings it. For example, life can be described as dining at an expensive restaurant. Some people will come in, sit down and comfortably choose whatever they want. The waiter will hurry and bring it. Others will come in, sit down and scan the menu prices for things that they can afford. The waiter will, again, hurry and bring it. You get what you have asked for. You get what you have expected. You get what you had faith in receiving, and your life has always been governed by this principle. The Faith Principle.

You can switch tables any time and switch restaurants at any time but the menu is the same for everyone. You look at another table and notice the people laughing and enjoying their dinner of steak and shrimp. They can't order for you. No one else's faith can order up "life" for you. It's all available for us all to take advantage of. Two people may want a certain thing but only one person will order it; not knowing if it will come out too cold, too hot, or if the waiter will take too long. Still, they order the meal item and they sit and wait for the waiter to bring it out. There is no doubt that he will.

Your life has been the way it has because this is what you have ordered. This is what you have expected or had faith in. Most people who have a lot continue to have a lot because the thought of lack rarely enters their head. To one person, having ten thousand dollars in their back account would mean, "I need more, this is ridiculously low." They have faith in the fact of knowing that anything less than twenty thousand dollars is their idea of poverty. Another person could have ten thousand dollars in the bank and feel like they were a millionaire. They have faith in the fact of knowing that anything more than that is unfathomable. It's all in the way you perceive your life. You can have more if you wanted more and if you had faith in the fact that it is yours! No one is stopping you. If the waiter says, "We are out," he quickly brings an equal substitute. You have rolls, toast, or biscuits. The makeup is still the same; it is still bread. You still have the choice to order whatever you desire. There are no options at all. You can have whatever is on the menu that you like, so choose what is pleasing to you.

Mountains are now easily removable out of your life because you see that they have blocked you. Now that you know the road of life is yours, as a car comes, you steer out of its way. As others speak in disagreement or agreement with your goals, you seek harmony and peace and still move forward. As many may not understand this new idea that you have, you continue because it is all your own doing. You are never in danger of losing what you want. It's not too late for you to achieve this thing. You always have been much more than your counterparts could understand anyway.

Having faith and using the faith principle is like applying a sprinkle of magic back into your life. You can start to stretch the imagination and get that particular thing or be in that particular situation in life that you have always wanted. You can start to speak these things into existence and laugh at the possibilities t you have. You can get creative as reality seems to go left, and you can use your faith to make a direct turn back to the right. You can have anything, and be anything and know that there is no such thing as failure because at the end of the day, as the dawn fades to sunlight, it's all a joyride to a dynamic destination.

Consider some of the many options for goals that we all have, including marriage, weight loss, leadership, good relationships, more responsibility, better careers, children, education, or nice transportation. It is already there, waiting for us to make room in our lives for it. Faith has given you specific things throughout your life, and yet instead of using it to get what you desire, you have instead complained and remained stagnant in your current position. At any time it is yours. You should now start remembering more and more of how special and important you are.

14.

Say Grace

Things are changing now. You may feel a dramatic shift on the inside, as your potential is growing like a child in the womb. You have not changed physically but mentally, and there is much growth in realizing that as mountains are set in your way, you can easily remove them. You may have suddenly found some sort of joy in knowing that what you thought was impossible is very possible and very real. But you are still where you are and not where you want to be. So why not be grateful? Regardless of where life has taken you, at this moment, you are there, in the perfect position and in the perfect spot for liftoff.

There is humility in being grateful where you are, and it is not an easy thing for most of us. There was a period in my life in which, after losing my job my family had to go and stay in weekly motels . I had to find it in myself to be thankful for living in a condition that wasn't comfortable for me. But it could have been worse. I had lived a life of continually receiving bonuses at work, and now I sat jobless, going from interview to interview seeking a job. But it could have been worse. I knew nothing would change in my life until I made an attitude change. Where at first I was accustomed to dining at fine establishments, I became humbled and thankful for any meal. Where at first I was accustomed to being the person conducting the interviews, I became excited at the experience of being in front of others who were interviewing me. I expressed gratitude over every small victory. There was a compassionate love that was driven inside of me that embraced where I was at, with as much positivity as I could handle all the while knowing this was not where I wanted to be.

Along the way of staying in the many hotels, I got a chance to meet a couple from India. They could barely speak English but the husband and wife team paired together to do housekeeping for us every day. I found the wife to be beautiful both physically and spiritually and the husband to be humble and strong. One day, I politely asked them, "How is your day going?" as they were cleaning our room. The wife, who knew more English, translated to her husband, who immediately drew a huge grin on his face. "Thankful!" he stated with joy. And then the wife offered, "We are so happy to be in the States. We're so grateful." Then she joked, "Bad weather though," with a laugh.

I was marveled. This couple, who were working as housekeepers, had something to be grateful for. They had something to be thankful about and so who was I to complain? I was breathing and there are many names I can write down of people who are not anymore. I could watch television, enjoy time with my children, or take the time to enjoy the beautiful scenery around me. There are many who do not share these freedoms. I have all limbs and a right mind to make decisions. There are hospitals full of others who dream of being in that situation. I have sight, hearing, and the ability to choose different clothes each day. There are plenty out there who would consider that prosperity. It doesn't matter where you are in life because there are a million things for you to be thankful for. Along the journey to you obtaining the things you desire, there will be a million more things for you to have gratitude towards. Regarding the purchase of this book, the ability to read these words are a gift, and surely you should feel the need to be thankful for it because as it has been a desire for me to write it for you, it has been a gift for you to receive it. There are beautiful plants outside and wonderful stories to be told, but there is no way to appreciate the wonders that life has to offer you tomorrow if you don't see the blessings of today. You are where you are and that is a beautiful, wonderful, joyful place to be in.

Part of the reason why my career had come to a standstill was because I stopped being grateful. I stopped being thankful for the gifts and thus they stopped coming. I had to become grateful for the current situation because I knew this would never happen again. I needed to cherish the time that was now available to me and find beauty in the moments that had at first given me pain. During the period of writing this book, I found over four hundred different ways may countries and areas express their gratitude. Some people simply bowed their heads while others clapped their hands, but every cultural and spiritual belief had a way to outwardly express how thankful they felt inside. Each word was filled with love and joy, and I found some comfort in finding such new expressions to show appreciation.

Afrikaans/Southern Africa-Baie dankie

Aka/Thailand-long khu meah

Hebrew/Israel-Tada

Cherokee/Western U.S.-Wado

Egyptian (to a man)-Dua Netjer enek

French(France, Belgium)-Merci Beaucoup

Creole (West Indies)-Mese

English (Midland)-Cheers

I grew up in the "Bible-belt" south where we were all taught to stop before we ate any meals and say grace. Many families may alter the words, but this tradition was often customary. Once, I was invited to have lunch with one of the more prominent members of the city. He was a businessman who had established a proven track record of success in many fields. At a previous event when we first met, I joked about how often his cell phone would ring. He would quickly answer each call and handle his business as if each one was equally as important as the others. At the lunch I found myself sitting patiently waiting for him to once again get off the cell phone and give the waitress who stood by his order. Finally, as he put one call on hold, he scanned the menu and found something to his delight. When the waitress returned, she brought us our drinks and sat the order on the table. All the while he continued to answer call after call on his cell phone. Suddenly, he noticed that the food was sitting at front of him and he proceeded to end his current call. Instead of putting his cell phone down, he completely turned it off. Then, he bowed his head and said his grace. No matter how busy you may find yourself or how cluttered your life may seem, it's imperative that you say thank you for what you have.

Expressing gratitude for what you have and feeling the joy for where you are now is the quickest way to get to where you desire to be. When you wake up, when you prepare for your day, as you go about your day and before you lay yourself to rest at night, you should always find time and reasons to be grateful and say thank you. If you are a singer, sing about it! If you are a painter, design artwork to express it! If you are a writer, write about it! If you are a teacher, teach about it! If you can't speak about it, simply raise your hands. If you can't raise your hands, you can at least smile. Being thankful and grateful not only keeps you humble, but it also tells the world that you are not one who will allow fear and doubt into your world. You know where you are going and you know that you will make it there. You know exactly what your tomorrow looks like but until it arrives, practice on being appreciative for today.

15.

The Work Part

Now that you have filled yourself up on the realization of knowing you can be who you want, do want you want and achieve your desires, it is time to finally begin the work towards it. Faith cannot move your hands, only you can. You are always the primary laborer in your vision. There is plenty of work to be done, but this work is only your preparation. If whatever you seek to desire is completely achievable, how prepared are you to receive it?

To have a successful life by one definition you must develop yourself into a person who is willing to take risks for chances of achievement, do what is right even if it is not popular, accept compliments and accolades graciously, and admit to mistakes and take responsibility. Your work will show exactly how committed you are to your own success.

Success in any area is obtainable when you make a full commitment towards it. To win the race, you must of course run. You may get tired along the way or feel the need to slow down your stride, but the faster you run the sooner you will meet the finish line. It's a much easier road if you concentrate on the feeling of crossing over the barriers of completing the race. Still, your feet must go. It's a much less resistant pavement if you remove the rocks or mountains that have once held you back in life. This is a process that must occur prior to the race. This will also take some work.

It's great and wonderful to have vision, but if you see a brick wall on one side and an open valley on another, wouldn't it take some persistent action to move towards the valley? By persistent, I mean ongoing. By ongoing I mean constantly. By constantly I mean every chance you get. By every chance you get I mean continually. You should continually make yourself busy with the preparation of being ready to reach your goals. There is always something to be done, and there is always a way to do it. There are no excuses or short cut strategies in receiving all that is yours. You may see yourself in a position of having a driver everyday who drives you around as you feel the need to conduct your daily duties. The faith principle will give you what you ask for. The difference between the vehicle being city transit or a private limousine is due to your work in pursuing this desire.

It takes more than strategic planning. You will see over time that things will be offered to you freely that will aid in the assistance of achieving what you are having faith in. There may be instances in which things will fall into place over time, but there is always something that you can start and finish towards your goal today. The mark of a millionaire is someone who spends less than what they make. This is a practice you can start today. A successful marriage includes two people who are willing to compromise and forgive. If you are seeking this partnership, managing those traits is something you can practice on today. There is no way to become an award winning novelist if at first you do not write a book, but before that you do not write a chapter or at least a sentence. There is always something to be done today. There is always information available that you need. There is always work to be done and the work needs to be completed today.

The next great football star is practicing on a field at this moment. The next person to receive a driving license is most likely looking over the driver's handbook right now. The next person who will win an Oscar could be somewhere out there rehearsing lines as you read this. The next big invention is probably being tested right now. A lot of work is being done because after faith comes the preparation for the thing you most desire.

There is a couple who had been married for five years and desperately wanted to become pregnant, but after several tries they found it to be a challenge. They could not afford to use the medical technologies that existed, and honestly, the couple really wanted to get pregnant the "good old natural way." The wife became persistent in using the faith principle. She also did something every day towards her goal. She didn't just want this thing. She demanded it to the world and became engulfed in the manifestation of getting what she wanted. The husband became driven by the end goal too. He pivoted his thoughts toward the future of his child instead of the lack of having one. He started to budget his income more and even started a college fund for the child. At every pay period he would buy things for the baby including papers, clothing and toys. The wife started to baby proof their home and spent her days looking at various day care centers and schools. Together the couple would go through books about baby names, and they had even started cleaning out the backyard in preparation for building a small play gym. They became busy about the work of preparing for what they wanted. Through it all, the couple joked about having sex less because they were so exhausted in completing the work. In the living room of their home, the wife had even taken down several pictures of her and her husband alone and replaced them with images of other family members who had children. Their child is now five years old, and they are looking to have one more to join their family. The husband is thankful that he may be able to reuse some of the clothes and toys they still have. The faith principle had given them what they asked for, and thankfully they had prepared themselves by doing the work.

For a while you may have considered that living life to the fullest was impossible for you. You may have wondered if you were worthy of receiving those things that others have. You see now how those mountains and false images of life are not true. As you work towards your goals and have faith in it, what you desire will seem to levitate to you. What you once perceived as a possibility is now a certified guarantee.

Remember this:

  * You do not need a beginning point other than now.

  * Your ending should not come as a surprise. You should live NOW as if you already have it.

  * Preparing for it is the work.

  * Fear, doubt and worry will lengthen the process of getting what you desire. Neither of these things is necessary in your life.

  * If one lane becomes a dead end, quickly turn around and head in the other direction. All roads will lead you to your desired destination.

  * Life will bring you whatever you expect, want, dream, think and say. It will bring you whatever it is you faith in!

  * You are special and wonderful, and you deserve the absolute best. You should be your own #1 fan.

  * Be thankful for everything you have and everything around you. Smile when there is no reason to and laugh every chance you get.

  * Remove mountains as soon as they come. Don't ignore what needs to be removed from your life.

  * Don't accept the truth unless it is pleasing to you, live your life by faith and live it to the fullest! Don't apologize for doing what makes you happy.

  * There is always a way to prepare yourself today for the success you seek tomorrow. This is the work part. The faith part is seeing yourself there.

  * No one else has to understand your vision, but it's still your job to make this thing clear.

From Me to You

No matter where you are or how you have received this book, I send my blessings to you. It has been my desire to get this into your hands just to tell you how powerful and special you are. Even though you may have thought that someone or something else has held you back, you now know that nothing can stop you. I heard you wrestle with your dreams. I witnessed you "wishing upon a star" that this particular thing would happen for you. I felt the echoes of your spirit wanting to be in a certain position in your life that seemed so far off. Through using your faith, you can accomplish much more than you have ever imagined. Open your wings, have faith and fly! Don't worry about your past. Focus on your future and proceed forth with achieving those things others believe are impossible. Your story is the greatest story of all!

Being a devout Christian, I believe the angels of God are assigned to us to assist in the fulfillment of purpose. They are specifically assigned to obey your commands. You can command them to bring forth greatness in your life. If you do not share this same belief, faith still works for you. Regardless if it is faith in Jesus or faith in a red box, if you believe in yourself and believe by faith in your goal you can achieve it. Whatever it is that is imaginable to you, is possible for you.

I will enjoy watching you obtain your heart's desires as faith works in your life and you remove any mountains that have stood in your way. I will enjoy watching you flourish. I have enjoyed writing this for you, hopefully just as much as you have enjoyed reading it. Now put the book down and go about the process of preparing for the blessing. Remember, life is a roller coaster ride, put your hands up, close your eyes and enjoy! You will always arrive at your destination safely.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

T he author, Shon Wilson, is a married mother of two who resides in Memphis, TN. After numerous attempts at writing books, this is her first published work. Although her primary career is real estate, she also enjoys speaking on positive thinking, motivating others marketing. More importantly, she enjoys watching others achieve their dreams and make the most of the wonderful life that God has gifted.

Find more information at www.shonwilsonmemphis.com

