An elderly woman walked into the local country church. The friendly usher greeted her at the door and helped her up the flight of steps.
“Where would you like to sit?” he asked politely.
“The front row, please,” she answered.
“You really don’t want to do that,” the usher said. “The pastor is really boring.”
“Do you happen to know who I am?”
“No.”
“I’m the pastor’s mother,” she replied indignantly.
“Do you know who I am?”
“No.”
“Good,” he answered.
We should do everything we can to stay out of our own way. Stewart Johnson said, “Our business in life is not to get ahead of others, but to get ahead of ourselves—to break our own records, to outstrip our yesterdays by today, to do our work with more force than ever before.” If you would like to know who is responsible for most of your troubles, look in the mirror. If you could kick the fellow responsible for most of your problems, you wouldn’t be able to sit down for three weeks. It’s time for us to stay out of our own way.
Most of the stumbling blocks people complain about are under their own hats. Louis XIV commented, “There is little that can withstand a man who can conquer himself.” The Bible’s wisdom counsels, “He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls” (Prov. 25:28).
“Your future depends on many things, but mostly on you,” Frank Tyger said. You may succeed if nobody else believes in you, but you will never succeed if you don’t believe in yourself. Zig Ziglar observed, “What you picture in your mind, your mind will go to work to accomplish. When you change your pictures you automatically change your performance.” Whatever you attach consistently to the words “I am,” you will become.
Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “It is impossible for man to be cheated by anyone but himself.” Gain control of your mind or it will gain control of you. Your imagination dictates your openness to positive direction. As Norman Vincent Peale remarked, “Do not build up obstacles in your imagination. Remind yourself that God is with you and that nothing can defeat Him.”
“Our best friends and our worst enemies are the thoughts we have about ourselves,” Dr. Frank Crane said. Stop looking only at where you are and start looking at what you can be. The Bible declares, “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he” (Prov. 23:7). Be careful of your thoughts. They may become words at any moment and actions very soon. Wrong thinking almost always leads to misery.
No one can defeat you unless you first defeat yourself. Self-image sets the boundaries and limits of each of our individual accomplishments. Charles Colton said, “We are sure to be losers when we quarrel with ourselves; it is a civil war.” If you doubt yourself, listen to Alexandre Dumas: “A person who doubts himself is like a man who would enlist in the ranks of his enemy and bears arms against himself.” Tim Redmond advised, “Don’t commit treason against your own life and purpose.”
Your world first exists within you. Marion Crawford said, “Every man carries with him the world in which he must live.” Having trouble hearing from God? According to Bob Harrison, “When God speaks, your mind will be your biggest enemy.” Facing major obstacles in life? James Allen observed, “You are the handicap you must face. You are the one who must choose your place.” Remember you are your own doctor when it comes to curing cold feet, a hot head, and a stuffy attitude.
Get ahead of yourself.