Do you enjoy the tasks that life presents to you or do you drag yourself through them? How you answer this question indicates whether you are living or merely existing.
As you develop enthusiasm for what you are doing, you will work with effortless ease. Although, like Edison, you may spend many hours a day working, it will seem the most fascinating and absorbing pursuit in the world. Effort coupled with enthusiasm brings forth creative accomplishment.
Your day, your work, your life are all changed when you work with enthusiasm—which is generated and expressed from within you.
Charles Fillmore wrote a delightful affirmation on enthusiasm in his ninety-fourth year: “I fairly sizzle with zeal and enthusiasm, and I spring forth with a mighty faith to do those things that ought to be done by me.” Say it, believe it, and express your enthusiasm in everything you do!
What do you do best in life? Are you using your talents effectively? At times we are inclined to spread ourselves so thin—trying to do a little bit of everything—that we neither discern nor use our real talents.
There is no need to try to be all things to all people, no need to feel obligated to do everything you are asked or expected to do. It is only essential to be true to your inner guidance that comes from the Spirit of God.
Use your talents, gifts, abilities, and training to do your very best in the endeavor that is interesting and pleasing to you. Seek to express the wonderful, dynamic Spirit that is within you.
Now is the time to stop playing at life. Live life in full expression of what you do best. You will enrich the lives of others as you find your own fulfillment.
What kind of opinion do you have of yourself? Good? Poor? A low self-concept shows up in interesting ways:
1. Always being anxious to please others, even when continually sacrificing yourself.
2. Feeling the need to return every favor received.
3. Working long, exhausting hours to convince your boss or your family that you are a worthwhile person.
We have a poor opinion of ourselves when we do not act according to what we know is right and good, and ignore our own values. It may be that we have unrealistic standards and try to live above human feelings.
Whatever the cause, let us seek to develop a better opinion of ourselves. We are children of God, valued by our Creator. With this knowledge we can enjoy a sense of well-being and live in the way that is right and good for us.
Do your emotions ever get out of control? Do you sometimes flare up, seeming to lose control of your temper, which often results in an uncontrolled tongue? It is not necessary to allow your emotions to get out of control.
You can keep yourself perfectly poised, balanced, and controlled if you will. Violent, wild emotions are generated as a result of uncontrolled thoughts. Keep your thoughts in hand. Think, rather than respond from the feeling nature, which is likely filled with all sorts of debris.
No matter what the outer appearances may be, look to Christ in you. Know that God’s powerful, loving Spirit fills your mind and heart. In this awareness, you will have happy, healthy attitudes of mind. Your emotions are balanced and you are poised. Place yourself, your thoughts, your feelings, and your reactions under God’s direction, and you will achieve emotional control.
Children often find themselves overcome by a difficulty that a grown-up can quickly solve. What may seem to be impossible to a child is quite easy for an adult. So it is with our greatest difficulties—the solution is simple to our Father God.
The major reason prayers are not answered is that we limit the power of God. We often think in terms of what we believe to be our human limitations. Even if you can’t see a way out of your difficulty at the moment, God can open a way that you can accept. There is no problem too difficult for God to handle beautifully.
When you need help to overcome a difficulty, pray. Turn your attention to God. God is omnipotent—all powerful—and there is no difficulty that God cannot handle. It is never too late. It is never too soon. God is—right now!
Refuse to allow yourself to limit God. Ask for God’s help. Respond to the ideas that are given you, no matter how far-fetched they seem. You will be provided with the way out of your difficulty.