{Day 15} There can be miracles...

Many nights we've prayed with no proof anyone could hear

In our hearts a hopeful song we barely understood
Now we are not afraid although we know there's much to fearWe were moving mountains long before we knew we could…

When I was growing up, there were a few people I idolized. An Olympic athlete from Port Arthur, TX, a tennis player from Long Beach CA, a baseball player from Puerto Rico.

None were born into wealth. None had special privileges. Certainly each of them had talent – but so do many others.

So what made these folks great? All three of them had tremendous confidence in their abilities. It was the BELIEF that they could be the best in their respective sports.

Think about a desire you have. Maybe it is to lose weight. The desire itself isn’t good or bad. But how you think about it goes a long way in determining whether your desire is met.

For every desire, you can chose to focus on what you want, or focus on the lack of it.

You can look at fitness plans and gyms and decide if one is right for you. You can talk about the benefits of exercising and eating well. You can plan the vacation you will take when you reach a goal weight. You can start talking that way when you have only lost 5 pounds and keep talking that way until your goal is met.

 Or you can focus on how miserable you are being overweight. Talk about how you have been overweight for years, how everyone in your family is overweight and you probably won’t ever lose. Complain about how other people are so lucky to be thin and fit. Tell yourself you can't help but eat chocolate.

TRUTH: You can be or do or have anything you want, and you get what you focus on.

The challenge is we often focus not on our desire, but on the LACK of it. We talk about the lack, bemoan the lack, are envious of others who have what we want, speak words that indicate it is beyond our reach.

You see, wanting and believing are different. Saying you want to be healthy but constantly focusing on being overweight is futility.

Wanting gets you nowhere.

Believing takes you wherever you want to go.

Babe Didrickson believed that a girl from Texas could be an Olympic medal winner and the best professional golfer of her day.

Billie Jean King believed she could beat every other women’s professional player – and a couple men as well.

Roberto Clemente believed he was the best player in baseball. Sports writers in Pittsburgh called him “arrogant” because he never backed down from that belief.

Sure they each had skill. But a lot of girls in Texas can run fast. A lot of girls in California can play tennis. A lot of boys in Puerto Rico can play baseball.

What separated these three and other world class athletes is belief.

Believing and knowing and visualizing Olympic medals, golf championships, winning Wimbledon, being a World Series hero.

What do you see?

What do you believe?

Or are you simply wishing or wanting?

There can be miracles, when you believe

Though hope is frail, it's hard to kill
Who knows what miracles you can achieve
When you believe, somehow you will
You will when you believe 

We will talk more about this tomorrow…

Thanks for reading.

BP J

I am participating in Write 31 Days. Click here to read more about it and see the other amazing bloggers.

You can see earlier entries below this blog or in the sidebar under 2015.

Beth Painter is, among many other things, a writer and motivational speaker. You can follow her on Facebook on the “Think Big focus small” page.

Beth is available to speak to your group about how to make your dreams and desires come to life!