Christianity Oasis Forum

[Christine_RL]

Earlier this week as I was driving home from a long, tiring day with a friend, it was quiet in the car with only the wind from the windows making any noise. During that quiet night time driving, many of the things I've been reading here along the path were popping up in my mind. It was comforting to know that the seeds have been planted and that I am in the process of remembering them.

Today I read another scripture that was delivered to my e-mail and it is so fitting for everything that I've been experiencing, especially during the last two years.

For I am doing something in your own day, something you wouldn't believe even if someone told you about it. ~ Habakkuk 1:5, NLT

I also read a quote today that really resonated with me.

Limitations live only in our minds. But if we use our imaginations, our possibilities become limitless. —Jamie Paolinetti, former professional cyclist

I have been continuing to look for companies to submit my work to. It gets time consuming looking for companies, sending e-mails, finding out their submission guidelines, etc. Aside from looking for companies, a big roadblock to tackle are my own fears of making new artwork. After all my reading and research and learning more about the business of selling my artwork and designs, it gets difficult to sit down and just create. There are so many continual thoughts that tell me it is impossible and I can't do it, that I don't know what I'm doing. How can I succeed? I've spent so much time analyzing everything that my analysis zapped out my creativity. As the quote above says, I have set limitations in my mind, I need to use my imagination to rise above those limitations. There are three tips for overcoming your fears by Norman Vincent Peale. I keep putting off seriously contemplating these tips. The first two tips parallel with the quote too and also with the lessons learned here along the 14 day path. Think new thoughts, renew the mind, replace the weeds with good seeds.

First: Start thinking courage. We become what we think. There is a law of attraction in this world where like responds to like. If you send out thoughts of fear, what are you going to get back? Fear. If you constantly send out thoughts of weakness, what are you going to get back? Weakness. If you constantly send out thoughts of defeat, what will you get back? Defeat. But, on the contrary, if you think thoughts of courage, then courage will flow to you. The more courageous your thinking, the greater the results will be.

Second: Cancel out fear by faith. Adopt what might be called a spiritual crash program, a method for increasing faith quickly. To do this, I suggest taking large “doses” of faith into your mind. Work at it zealously and constantly, with the definite purpose of saturating your very consciousness with faith.

Search the Scriptures for passages that express the greatest faith men have ever had. Commit these to memory. Say them over and over, until they take hold of you, as they will, until finally they completely dominate your thinking. Example: “I sought the Lord, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears” (Psalm 34:4). Another is: I will fear no evil: for thou art with me” (Psalm 23:4).

Third: Pray for courage. I believe a person should pray for courage as he prays for his daily bread. God will give it to you, because He will give you Himself.

A prayer by Norman Vincent Peale,

“God, please help me. I know you can do it because I’ve seen you make drunkards sober and turn thieves into honest men. Please take away these inferiority feelings that are holding me back, this awful shyness and fear. Let me see myself not as a scared rabbit but as someone strong and confident who can do great things.”

Some additional tips from Dr. Peale:
Try this: At the beginning of any change effort, large or small, develop a change vision statement. Commit to your effort by stating explicitly:

* what it is you want to change;
* why you want to change it;
* how you will be different;
* how you will feel different;
* and who will be positively affected by this change, in addition to yourself.

Then call on your imagination to fully envision how that change occurs in you. See the tangible, physical results, but also envision a change in the underlying dynamic…Be sure to imagine not just the change itself, but also how achieving that change will make you feel. Ultimately change is about feelings, not behavior.

All the above is good advice, but the hardest part is following through with Dr. Peale's tips. Little by little, step by step, everything can't be accomplished overnight. I'm trying to remember this so I don't caught up in being discouraged and that it does take time and patience.