BULB AND FLOWER

We decide to change something in our lives. Perhaps we smoke and wish to quit. We throw away our smokes (or smoke them up) and announce we are now a non-smoker. What changed? If I just polished off a bacon avocado cheeseburger and then announce myself a vegetarian, am I? If we have a room full of exercise equipment or a paid up gym membership does it mean we are physically fit? Demonstration and intention. Our intentions may be noble, but nothing happens until we take action and follow through. If we take a flower bulb and plant it in infertile ground, withholding water and nourishment is it any wonder that nothing happens. Alternatively, we provide water and plant in good soil but dig the bulb up daily to check progress, killing the new tender roots trying for purchase, is it any wonder why our flower does not appear? The purpose of the bulb is to flower. When we decide to change, to take action, we plant a bulb. The flower does not appear the next day; it requires time and consistent conditions to flourish. Change is a process; the new man is not born in a day. When we change the way we look at things, the things we look at change. Wayne Dyer teaches: Think from the end. See yourself free of cigarettes, not as someone “trying” to quit. See yourself exercising in your minds eye, do not engage in making “deals” with yourself or picking a time or date to start. See yourself exercising everyday, picture your body in your minds eye as it will look after exercise. Soon the urge to exercise will become overwhelming, as long as you refrain from negative out picturing and thoughts. Bacon avocado cheeseburgers? Don’t be silly, they are the food of the Gods.

Train yourself to think from the end. Like any new activity at first, it will feel clumsy and unfamiliar. If you persist, it will become second nature, like riding a bike. Plant your bulb in fertile ground and thank God for the flower to come. See it in your minds eye, in all its radiant beauty. Though this flower of intention is but a vision, you must provide the conditions for success, demonstrating willingness in faith and God will provide the rest.