“For as he
thinketh in his heart, so is he…” Proverbs 23:7 KJV Please think about that: we
are what we think. Those are incredibly powerful words! Individuals who believe
in a bright future may seem to be in the minority lately. It is not easy to keep up hope in the
bottomless sea of negativity that the Age of Information provides.
I just
learned that ISIS says that one of its next two targets will be Washington,
D.C. I live close to that city. My husband works there. Should I hide under the
covers of my bed all day?
Keeping the Light Burning in the
Darkness
Recently, I posted an article about hope. I would like to continue writing about hope against the odds today. I will highlight two men who epitomize success after years of struggling:
George Washington Carver (app. 1860-1943)
“Ninety-nine
percent of the failures come from people who have the habit of making excuses.”
“Where there is no
vision, there is no hope.”
The image
above is of a boll weevil. It feeds on cotton buds and flowers. This insect
migrated to America from Mexico in the late 19th century. By the
1920’s, it had infested all of the cotton-growing areas in the American South.
The cotton industry was devastated. The impact was felt through the Great
Depression of 1929.
George
Washington Carver, born into slavery, was a botanist and inventor who helped
turn everything around. He researched and promoted alternative crops to cotton,
including peanuts, soy beans, and sweet potatoes—with a special concentration
on peanuts. He put together 105 recipes for peanuts. He also developed and
promoted 100 peanut-based products, including cosmetics, paints, dyes, gas, and
nitroglycerin.
Farmers
started planting other crops besides cotton, thanks to the research of Carver.
They actually made much more money growing peanuts than they had growing
cotton.
Joel Osteen
“Choosing to be
positive and having a grateful attitude is going to determine how you’re going
to live your life.”
“I believe if you keep
your faith, you keep your trust, you keep the right attitude, if you’re
grateful, you’ll see God open new doors.”
He is the
head pastor of possibly the largest church in America, Lakewood Church in
Houston, Texas. His main focus is on preaching general, Bible-based positivity.
To me, his words are always uplifting. However, some people do not appreciate
this approach. They want to hear specifics on what they’re doing wrong and how
they need to change their lives. These individuals conclude that talking in an
only optimistic manner is misleading and ineffective.
Since he
took over the job, Pastor Osteen has been subject to criticism of his style of
preaching, his positive attitude, and more. Lakewood Church meets in the huge
Compaq Center, the former venue of the National Basketball Association (NBA)
team, the Houston Rockets. There was
plenty of opposition on the way to securing the site, though. He fought a costly three-year legal battle. He
wasn’t sure how they’d find the money to rent, or buy, the building. Also, one of
his detractors told him that it would be a cold day in Hell before Lakewood got
the building. I guess they opened an ice-skating rink in Hell a few years ago.
My Conclusion
From Google Images: “A negative thinker sees a
difficulty in every opportunity. A positive thinker sees an opportunity in
every difficulty.”
Please see more about positive
attitudes in my book, Accept No Trash:
Overcoming the Odds
How have you
turned negatives into positives?
