Rethinking Life

I can waste a lot of time on the internet. There, I admitted it. I love to follow a link from one thing I’m reading to another and another and… well, you get my point. Sometimes, I really do learn something from following those links but like other distractions in life it can make me forget what my original goal was when I started. Yesterday, I was reading an online article about a group of ladies who will be sharing stories of how they live their best life, handling the highs and lows of being an artist so that they keep their “hearts light and open”. I still have not read any of their stories although I will (maybe).

The author opened her post with a quote by Og Mandino where he said in part “Remind yourself, as often as necessary, that you are a creature of God and have the power to achieve any dream by lifting up your thoughts”. This quote was the jumping off point for yesterday's post.

Since I had never heard of Mr. Mandino, I did a Google search and found several sites with information on this gentleman who passed away in 1996. Mandino wrote The Greatest Salesman in the World which contains the "time-tested wisdom of the ancients distilled into ten simple scrolls". Written to teach insurance agents how to sell policies in difficult times, the principle of each “scroll” was designed to teach a person replace bad habits built up over a lifetime. The official Og Mandino site is being redesigned but I found an archive of the site that listed the principles in the scrolls.

The ten principles are:

• Scroll I - Today I begin a new life.
• Scroll II - I will greet this day with love in my heart.
• Scroll III - I will persist until I succeed.
• Scroll IV - I am nature's greatest miracle.
• Scroll V - I will live this day as if it is my last.
• Scroll VI - Today I will be master of my emotions.
• Scroll VII - I will laugh at the world (Keep perspective)
• Scroll VIII - Today I will multiply my value a hundredfold.
• Scroll IX - I will act now, I will act now, I will act now.
• Scroll X - I will pray for guidance.

While I've not read his book, a quick look at his principles tells me that Og was on to something. Since my life has changed so drastically due to my health, I truly need to begin a new life. Please join me as I pray for guidance and then act now to put changes in place.  Everyday I'll explore one of his principles looking for Biblical backup for them. Then I'll share something new that I've learned, a change I've decided to make or an encouraging Bible verse I've found.  Come along for the ride.  I can guarantee you that it won't be boring!