365 Days of Fun and Chillaxation – Blog 236 – Good Old Fashioned Faith – A Reminder of Why It’s Useful and How To Have It
I’m reading an old book that was written back in the 1950′s by a man named Norman Vincent Pearle. Norman was a Minister and an Author and his book is called ‘The Power of Positive Thinking’ (1953). It’s still highly relevant in 2010 – regardless of one’s spiritual beliefs. Back when Vincent wrote this book, he mentioned a study of 450 people who lived to be 100 years of age. The study summed up the common characteristics of those people. It found:
“1. They kept busy.
2. The used moderation in all things.
3. They ate lightly and simply.
4. They got a great deal of fun out of life.
5. They were early to bed and early up.
6. They were free from worry and fear, especially fear of death
7. They had serene minds and faith in God.”
Yep. This is still sound advice. I especially think I’ll create a little more of number 4, whilst also enjoying a whole lot more of number 6 – which is a real goody.
Normal talked about emptying the mind daily of fear, worry and anxiety and replacing it with positive thoughts – thoughts of faith, trust, and belief. To be honest, I really needed to read this! I’m working at doing as he advised, and although I sometimes feel like it’s a futile effort, I will admit that I’m noticing the steady build-up of faith, more automatic positivity and hence improved relationships. Norman explains, from a Christian perspective (which I, as a non-Christian, still find highly relevant) how to teach the mind to focus on faith, rather than fear:
“Fill your mind with faith, and in due course the accumulation of faith will crowd out fear. It will not be of much value merely to read this suggestion unless you practice it. And the time to begin practicing it is now, while you think of it and while you’re are convinced that the number one procedure in breaking the worry habit is to drain the mind daily of fear and fill the mind daily with faith. It is just as simple as that. Learn to be a practicer of faith until you become an expert in faith. Then fear cannot live in you.”
I’ve got my first gig in three years tomorrow. I keep dipping into this book for inspiration and imagining myself relaxing and feeling totally at home as I sing and play guitar. I do feel surprisingly relaxed.
Books like this, which are still, amazingly enough working their magic sixty years down the track, are treasures. It’s like getting advice from the elders. They prove that our thinking hasn’t changed that much, actually. Books with similar messages are still being published, as if they’ve never been written before, but the messages were always there within those dusty, creased covers. Interestingly enough, some of the content of this book, of which sold over fifteen million copies sold, is still ignored by the mainstream today, for example the chapter that discusses the fact that seventy percent of illness is created by the mind and can therefore be avoided or rectified by the mind rather than medication.
I completely and utterly believe this and I prove it to myself and as a parent on a daily basis.
Actually, the same applies to the environment.
Now to remind every cell in my body to remember my song lyrics tomorrow …
I’ll leave you with one more Norman quote about faith:
“Faith is the one power against which fear cannot stand. Day by day, as you fill your mind with faith, there will ultimately be no room left for fear. This is the one great fact that no one should forget. Master faith and you will automatically master fear.”
And an eighties hit just in case you’d like to approach inner power from a different angle:
Today’s rating: 9/10
365 Days of Fun and Chillaxation (as I raise my gorgeous son and grow my good news website to a subscription base of 100,000 people). The Low Down on this Blog.
Check out yesterday’s blog.
Check out my NEW ebook ‘Ten Ways to Have Fun and Chillax As You Live Your Green Dreams’ - how to mix positive thinking with going green to achieve fantastic results (for yourself and the planet). Here’s the video story of this life-changing, planet loving ebook.
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