Eye Opening

 During work one day this week I was talking with a coworker and as normal, the talk turned to our mutual dissatisfaction with our work.   This coworker made the comment ‘I return to the ideas and concepts of this one book almost every day in order to get through the days’.   She highly recommended that I read the book.  Read?  A book?   Sign me up!

The book that she recommended was The Game of Life and How to Play It, by Florence Scovil Schinn.   I picked it up on Amazon. (Amazon affiliate link) I didn’t research it.  I didn’t look at the background, I just grabbed it on that recommendation.  It wasn’t long before I finished up the book I was currently reading and I was able to dive right into this new book.  This book opened my eyes to some things!  It made me realize some of my errors. 

But first let me say that honestly, this book made my soul hurt.   I have strong religious roots.  I believe in God.  I believe in the power of prayer.  And this book while quoting scripture was also talking about ‘treatments’ that people came to her for.  I was also talking about divine beings.   Prayer I wanted to shout constantly while I was reading.   It is not a treatment…it’s a prayer!  Divine beings?  Its God!  Irregardless, I finished the whole book.  But I was only able to read the whole thing by reading the book in terms of prayer and God, subconsciously (or maybe consciously) transposing the words that made this book emotionally palatable for my soul. 

So why did I continue reading if it made my soul hurt?  

I continued reading this book for two reasons.   The first reason was simply because it was recommended, I gave my word that I was reading it and I knew that my coworker and I would be discussing it during one of our chats this upcoming work week. (The word chat being used lightly as we communicate via various instant message type programs as she lives in California and I live in Maryland!)   The second reason?  The book was making a lot of sense for me!

You see, I ask God through my prayers for help with various things.  To lose weight. For a job that I enjoy.  For the opportunity to travel our gorgeous country…and even further our amazing world.  So many things.  Yet I flounder.   Now don’t get me wrong.  I have seen some amazing answers to prayers.  (Seriously.  I met Jason…and he actually loves me back!   Finding him and falling in love was an amazing answer to prayer!) but I flounder.  I beseech in prayer and then wait and flounder.  It becomes more of a dream that I playfully ask for. But nothing else.  

I have been doing two things wrong! 

The first is a simple one.  It is simply belief.  I have not believed.  I pray and I believe that it ‘can’ happen because of my prayers but I have lacked the deep rooted faith that my prayers will be answered. I need to put the faith behind my prayers. (And Dreams).

The second thing that I got from this book…and the thing I’ve been doing wrong goes hand in hand with the belief.  If you believe it so deeply, you will take the steps to prepare for the answer.  You have to think and believe the outcome.    The actions may be subconscious, something like standing straighter and more confident during a job interview.  Or they may be actual actions that we chose to take in order to get closer to the goal such as actually applying for a new position.   The important thing is to put the positive belief into your mind…your subconscious. Because once it’s there we will automatically start to live a life and make decisions based on those beliefs.  Prayer goes hand in hand with the actions in our lives.  Let’s look at the example of losing weight. 

I say I want to lose weight but what am I really doing?    Do I pray for it?  Sure.  Do I believe it?  Honestly,  of late I struggle with that, thinking instead that I will be fat forever.   Do I fill my mind with positive thin thoughts??  No. 

Years ago,  I used to use the phrase ‘Think Thin’.  Looking back at old posts I first used it in 2007!!!   I used it all the time.   But then I became thin and I stopped saying it…probably because I was thin.  Since I was thin, I thought I didn’t have to think it. (I was wrong…I will always have to THINK thin).  I was totally on the right track though when I started to say it!  Think thin.   Fill our minds with healthy and thin dreams and thoughts so that when those oh so difficult choices come along we will be so filled with thoughts of thin that choosing the carrot stick over a donut will be easy.  (Ok maybe that was a bad example but it still works!)  I explain it much more clearly in this post from 2018.

So how does this segue into my future…and specifically in the weight loss arena since this is a weight loss site?   I am going to be praying more fully for thinness to come back to my life and I am going to believe.  I am going to think thin since I know that my prayers can and will be answered in the most fabulous way for my life.

I leave with a picture of a bee….I’m not even going to come up with some witty comment about the bee and his faith….I’m putting it here just because I want to!