“No person can be confronted with a difficulty which he has not the strength to meet and subdue…Every difficulty can be overcome if rightly dealt with; anxiety is, therefore, unnecessary. The task which cannot be overcome ceases to be a difficulty and becomes an impossibility…and there is only one way of dealing with an impossibility – namely to submit to it.” – Byways of Blessedness
Most people who read these eMeditations probably think that I write them for others. The truth is, I write them for me 🙂 I need them as much or more than the folks I write for.
Several days ago when I started this I was confronted with a difficulty that I allowed to fill me with a great deal of anxiety. It’s not a new difficulty or even a totally unexpected one. But I was faced with a decision that will have long-term ramifications. One of those kind of decisions that we’d rather not make – one of those decisions that makes you want to pull the covers up over your head in the morning.
James Allen’s words are so incredibly penetrating on this subject because he’s basically saying that there’s no problem that we should be anxious about. We can either solve it or it’s impossible to solve. Kind of reminds you of the Serenity Prayer doesn’t it? “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and the Wisdom to know the difference.”
I once heard Rita Davenport give some great advice on handling most of the problems in our life: “If money can fix it, it’s not a problem.” Well that’s great, you say, but I don’t have the money to fix it, so I’ve got a problem. Wrong thinking.
Because the truth is you’re only one idea away from obtaining whatever amount of money you might need. So instead of focusing on the money you don’t have (which will almost surely result in you attracting more lack into your life), focus on ideas, ideas, ideas. As Bob Proctor says, “you’re either living in the problem or you’re living in the solution.” So start living in the solution.
There’s also another great reason not to be anxious about the difficulty you’re facing today – it contains a lesson. And once you master it, you will be much more stronger and wiser. My long-time hero, Emmet Fox, wrote, “It is the Law that any difficulties that can come to you at any time, no matter what they are, must be exactly what you need most at the moment, to enable you to take the next step forward by overcoming them. The only real misfortune, the only real tragedy, comes when we suffer without learning the lesson.”
And that’s worth thinking about.
Vick,
If we would only learn to find our purpose and begin to fulfill it, we would be living happier lives and poverty would be eradicated. In reference to lack of money, it is a means of exchange, the more we give the more we will have. The Law of Attraction in action.
Also the lack of money is a mind set, the thoughts we think, the words we speak, the mental and physical attitude reflects itself in our experiences. Therefore ,we can blame no one for our mistakes but ourselves. We will have storms but it is how we ride through them. We have to take responsibility for our own decisions and actions.
Blessings!
Valerie
This is more than great advice, the Bible says Be Anxious for nothing but by prayer and supplication let your request be made known unto God. Philippians 4:6
Another key to this is we need to make our decisions and stick to them, a double minded man is unstable in all his ways James 1:8
The more faith we have the more confident we will be when making difficult decisions in life.
“Begin now to sow thoughts of peace, happiness, right action, goodwill, and prosperity. Think quietly and with conviction on these qualities. Accept them fully in your conscioius reasoning mind. Continue to plant these wonderful seeds of thought in the garden of your mind and you will reap a glorious harvest.
When your mind thinks correctly, when you understand the truth, when the thoughts deposited in your subconscious mind are constructive, harmonious, and peaceful, the magic working power of your subconscious
will respond. It will bring about harmonious conditions, agreeable surroundings, and the best of everything. Once you begin to control your thought processes, you can apply the powers of your subconscious to any problem or difficulty. You will actually be consciously cooperating with
the infinite power and omnipotent law that governs all things.”
This quote was taken from Dr. Murphy’s book The Power of the Subconscioius Mind
Valerie is right, Vic is right, I know I am right 🙂 and yet there is so much wrong. I know life is a journey for us all and that we create our own circumstances etc. but I was 39 the first time I heard that I could control my own thoughts, crazy but true. How many lives would change if we could offer the power of positive thinking and the teachings from ‘what the bleep’ or ‘the secret’ to preschoolers. It seems we spend our youth being scarred and damaged and then spend our adult life either finding the damage and healing or living in denial and damaging others. Why cant everyone see the benefit of early intervention? If that happened the newage children would be less damaged and probably even teach their parents the principals, grow up to look beyond their own pain and hopefully start the next generation with enlightened babies who are not damaged by life but supported and able to make a real difference on the planet. Am I the only one to think this way, is it so difficult to implent? I dont think so, I work with children and their families and I see constant damage being done. God, I wish that I could change that.