Ouch! That hurt!
 

> We are awakened by an alarm we believe will
> go off. We flip a switch we believe will
> turn on the light. We turn on the water
> expecting it to come out.

> Throughout the day we all do little things
> with great faith, with postive expectancy.

> We expect the car to start. We expect work
> to be waiting for us. And so on and so on.

> We literally have faith in so many different
> things and people each and every day. We
> trust the person at fast food restaurant to
> give us the right order, and the pizza
> delivery guy NOT to mess with the pizza.

> We have faith. We do believe.

> Then there are my golf students. They come
> to a water hole and reach in and pull out
> the crummiest ball in the bag...ONCE. Or
> else they don't remain my students.

> I teach confidence.

> So my golf students MUST use a brand new
> ball when hitting over water. Why? It says
> to the subconscious, "I can".

> A raggedy old ball with big smiles says,
> "SPLASH" .

> Golf (life) is about confidence, ONCE you've
> gotten some mastery of the basics. I've seen
> many confident professional athletes think
> that golf was easy...and then they try
> it...how quickly that athletic confidence
> fades.

> In this weeks SeedZine, Spring Blossoms, I
> wrote about the money tree and expectation.

> It amazes me to see people who routinely go
> through their day with belief about others
> and their surroundings and their things...

> have NO belief in themselves. Or their
> abilities or EXPERIENCES.

> So I call your attention to Nature. And
> Spring. And the new blossoms that WILL grow
> into the Summer foilage, die in the Fall,
> and be dormant this coming Winter. The CYCLE
> of life.

> NOW is a good time to be planting the seeds
> of your future. A daily RITUAL of belief in
> YOU goes a long way to making your dream
> future happen.

> You already put faith into other things and
> people, why not put a little faith in
> yourself?

> That you CAN do MORE.
> That you can do BETTER.
> That you can BLOSSOM into a beautiful
> person, your birthright, by being like the
> young apple tree...

> its only job is to take in the nutrients of
> the good earth. Much like Jesse says in his
> post below, there is that BEGINNING time
> where it appears that nothing happens.

> But ACTION based in belief. Activity toward
> a worthy goal with POSITIVE
> expectancy...that is the substance of things
> not yet seen.

> You will bear FRUIT, one kind or another.
> And if you already are having an overflow
> harvest, you can always prune and take care
> of that which is providing your abundance,
> and SHARE.

> And USE A NEW GOLF BALL over the water.

> Slow Down...And Follow Through.

> Gordon Alexander

Gordon,

Now you're hitting a little too close to home! The self confidence thing is something I've struggled with along being the biggest barrier to success I see when working with others.

No one wants to risk the 'new ball'. Everyone wants to read one more article on success or get tips from just one more guru or wait until they have a little more money built up before they take the leap to start a business or place an ad.

Heck it's not education or information we need. We're the most educated and informed people in history. It's the self confidence and intestinal fortitude to go forward at the risk of failing.

Your post was pretty much a nail on the head.

Take care,

Mike Winicki

Thank you Michael!
 

I bet the 4/18 issue of Seedzine kinda got you too, didn't it? (It got me, I know!)

I wanted to respond "Awright arready, Gordon! You did everything but use my name!"

The thing is that when I spend time in my own head, *that's* when the confidence wanes. Thoughts like "yeah, they can do that but I . . . " or, "who'd ever care about what I think. . . ," erode what bit of confidence I can dredge up.

I got a huge shot in the arm a couple of days ago, and as a result, I've been doing something consistently that I love - writing. It's been a lot of fun, and I've given myself permission to ignore that "bit" (thanks, UKers) that would hold me back.

Now I treat that hour or so that I TAKE to write the same way I treated the grapes on the vine in the yard of our neighbors long ago. Snitchin' a bunch was fun, and they tasted a whole lot better than the bunches they gave us regularly!

I let myself have a delicious twinge of guilt, and gobble up that hour (and infringe on vacuuming time, even) just like a little kid. And you know what? *I* like re-reading what I write. Doesn't matter if anybody else does.

It's my bunch of grapes.

When self-doubt comes a-calling now, I've begun to act as if it's an unwanted, uninvited guest who smells like mothballs, and I ignore it.

"Acting as if" . . . seems I've used that in situations before.

Marye
P. S. And yes, Gordon. I've begun saving my posts . . .