See You At The Top

Tonight we read three chapters out of Zig Zigler's book, See You At The Top. He talks all about how you're supposed to view yourself positively no matter your circumstances, what you've been told before, etc... It's interesting because this is just what I've been talking about with some people. And also tonight on the radio I happened to hear this very sad story about someones mother-in-law that tied into the whole thing.

It was about this woman who couldn't connect with her mother-in-law and then one day asked her what life was like when she was young. Her m-i-l then told her about her life as a young girl... She was in love with this guy and they were going to get married after college. So when they both graduated they went their separate ways and he was going to call her in the fall and they were going to get married. But he never called. She waited and waited buy he never called. Her mom never liked the guy anyways because he wasn't rich. She finally ended up marrying this guy that her mother wanted her to marry and had five children and was a good mom and all that but she never loved him.

One night she went to a party when she was much older, like seventy I think, and she saw that guy that she had been so in love with. They recognized each other and talked for a while. And then she asked him, "Why did you never call?" And he said that he had called many many times and every time he had got her mother who told him that she didn't love him and didn't want him to call anymore. Finally she told him that she was engaged to be married and to never call again.

The woman's mother-in-law had also wanted to be an opera singer and had gotten the lead in a opera in college. She had a good voice and loved to sing. But her mother told her that she would never make it as a singer, she didn't have enough talent. So she gave it up and went into the family business.

The point of the story was that, that woman's mother-in-law had died with the music still inside her.

Here's a couple paragraphs from the Zig Zigler book.

In a large southern city there is a magnificent new shopping center that stands on the former city garbage dump. For over a century no one saw this location as anything but the "garbage dump." About twenty-five years ago, however, some progressive-minded citizens started "seeing" that location as a beautiful new shopping center. Immediately they stopped dumping garbage and started hauling good, clean fill dirt and dumping it over the century-old garbage. They packed it down with huge highway rolling machinery until a solid foundation was prepared. It was on this foundation that they built a magnificent new shopping center. But really, this shopping center is built on garbage, isn't it?

I tell this story because the chances are that over a period of time, people have been dumping "garbage" into your mind. What you must understand, however, is that it doesn't really matter if garbage has been dumped into your mind in the past. In fact, it doesn't really matter if others, through either malice or ignorance, have built low ceilings over you. You can overcome all of that "garbage," so I'm going to say to you, "Happy Birthday," because today is the first day of the rest of your life. The past is over and the fact you have read this far indicates you are now in the process of building a foundation for a greater mind.

***

Characteristically, when a person falls victim to Garbage-Dump Thinking he develops an assortment of "Losers Limps." You know what the Loser's Limp is if you've ever attended a football game or watched one on television... The offensive player slips behind the defensive player, reaches up, pulls in a pass, and heads for the end zone. The defensive player quickly recovers and takes out in hot pursuit. When the offensive player gets about 20 yards from the end zone, the defensive player realizes he's not going to catch the man with the ball. Everybody else in the stands knows it too. So, the defensive player frequently pulls up limping and the people in the stands say, "Well, no wonder the poor guy couldn't catch him. Look, he's crippled." Now that's the Loser's Limp. What is yours?

I know that I have some problems with this...

I am my family's optimistic one. I see the glass as half full, look forward to the future, am sure that things will work themselves out. But I get into these slumps were I feel completely useless. I've never been comfortable with the way that I look, or the way that my voice sounds. Sometimes someone will say something and even though they didn't mean it that way at all, it just hurts and it can be hard for me to overcome it. I am much much better than I was a few years ago. A better trust in God and some good friends has boosted my confidence level quite a bit there are still times... So I am really enjoying See You At the Top and I think it will help.

This book so far is very very good and I'm looking forward to the rest of it.

Love you! Shay