PERSPECTIVE - Dead or Out?

Then he shouted, "Lazarus, come out!"  My attention was brought to a phrase this morning, taken from John11.43.MSG, which really provoked my thoughts. A lot of us that have grown up in church have sat countless times, listening to different preachers using this text as a reference for their sermons. We know how the story goes- Lazarus dies, the people cry for a couple of days, Jesus rocks up rather late (in the people's opinion) and 'voila', Lazarus is back from the dead...

While discussing this passage and others with someone, the person asked me, "Jesu o rileng (What did Jesus say)?" I sat and starred the person in the eyes, thinking to myself, "Is this a trick question?" I kept thinking to myself, "The point is, Lazarus was very dead and Jesus kinda called him and he rose from the dead..."

Jesus shouted "COME OUT!" (or as other translations like the Amplified say, "COME FORTH!"). He did not say "RISE UP (from the dead)!" He said "COME OUT!" Confusing as it may appear, let us look at this phrase in it's simplest form. That phrase is directed at someone that has been confined to a specific place, assuring the individual that it is perhaps appropriate and permissible to come out.

This got me thinking about life in general and of course specific things in life such as dreams, great vision, ambitions, etc, that have faded into an invisible abyss that neither we or the next person can explain...

We used to think about these as often as we could and it used to be routine to utter the desire to achieve these things. Life suddenly gets a little challenging, so-called reality kicks in, we find security and a comfort zone and simply choose to settle, in an attempt to avoid the risk of failure. What happened to the dream??? Did it suddenly die. Was it assasinated by what we often refer to as reality. Did the opinions of those that have failed and never dared to attempt choke and suffocate what used to be? Do we even know what happened, or do most of us take the 'bury-your-head-in-the-ground' kind of approach as the easiest way to avoid what is, in fact, reality???

The truth, my dear friend, is that I am not thoroughly convinced that there is such a thing as a dead dream. The dreams one has while sleeping are, according to me, the best example to explain my belief. You can have a dream today and forget about it immediately when the alarm goes off, but suddenly remember it a week later. Did the dream suddenly come back to life? No, it simply came forth. It was lying there, seemingly dead, waiting for someone to recall it.

There are things that were once on the front seat of your heart. A day would not go by without you thinking about them. You would entertain the thoughts and would sometimes get lost in the jungle of imagination. You now find yourself in a place where those thoughts are like a ship that comes to the harbour only once in a long while. They have taken the backseat, where the spotlight barely reaches.

The dream is not dead. It is sleeping. Quit with the funeral arrangements and start to call it OUT! Write the vision down and make it plain, so that you can see it and (begin to) run with it. Talk about it. Dream again!

PERSPECTIVE- The Possibility Of Possibility

I found myself sitting yesterday and thinking about perspective. I was thinking about how one slight adjustment in angle can change an individual's entire perspective on the matter. I have often made statements like "Your OUTLOOK determines the OUTCOME," and have heard statements made by the likes of Bishop Michael Pitts when he says, "Life is a matter of perception. It's not the thing. It's how you look at the thing."

Though these are all statements that we often hear from preachers, life coaches, motivational talkers and parents, DO WE REALLY UNDERSTAND THEM, or are we simply excited at the sound of these intricate sounding grammatical concoctions?

This school of thought lead me to 'conjure' up another statement, in an attempt to make it a little simpler for the mind (as if the above statements are not simple enough- though it's in the proper understanding thereof that we find simplicity). I expressed this statement in a Facebook and Tweet update (part of a series of my daily motivational quotes) and it simply reads as follows: #9 Turn that negative question around into a positive answer. Instead of asking "CAN I?", say "I CAN!"

Could it really be that simple? Is it as simple as inverting 2 words??? I don't necessarily think so, but I don't believe it's that difficult either. Thing is, we live in a culture that seems to be propelled and motivated by negativity. So much so, that you wonder if any conversation, mass action, protest, public debate, daily newspaper and new bulletins would attract as much attention and popularity if there was no negativity. People seems to believe more in the power of "CAN I?" than that of "I CAN!"

There is a minority of individuals, however, who seem to master this concept. What could the reason for that be? Could it be that they have attained a special order of intelligence and reasoning that the average individual fails to attain? Could it be the 'lucky' few that just have it all going for them? I DON'T THINK SO. I think the answer is found in one simple word: APPLICATION! I believe that if one applies himself/herself to these principles and gets into a regular (in fact, daily) routine of practicing these principles, it is possible.

We need to train our minds to think differently; and the mind can only take in what it receives with the physical senses. I can almost hear someone ASKING, "Where on earth am I going to get the money for motivational books, DVDS, seminars, etc...?" STOP!!! You have every form of motivation that you will ever need-YOURSELF!

Begin today by speaking to yourself. Change the OUTCOME by altering the OUTLOOK. In other words, change your own perspective by training your mind to think positively. When a negative question arises, counter it with a positive answer. Yes, SPEAK to yourself. The results may not and will most assuredly not be visible overnight, but you will progressively begin to see the possibility of possibility more than the possibility of impossibility.