You get what you expect

To whom or what do you assign blame or give credit for your situation in life? Are you the navigator of your destiny, or does someone else deserve the recognition -- be it good or bad, positive or negative? Look within yourself and discern. It will be time well spent, I assure you.

Maxine grew up in a household where material possessions were in short supply. Her family's furniture was nothing to brag about. In fact, while in school, she was embarrassed to bring her friends home to spend the night. The type of friends she chose would not understand, she thought, so she pretended to be just like them. They didn't have holes in their couches.

Maxine's family was a good one. Although somewhat poor, they kept up a front and did what they could to fit in with everyone. Low self-confidence often follows being in a lower socio-economic group. Maxine eventually became a victim of low self-esteem, but she never stopped trying.

Maxine had great dreams of having a happy adult life. She dreamed of a wonderful husband, children and completing college. One step at time, little by little, all these things came to pass for her. She was sad, many times, because she felt unnoticed and unimportant, but she kept on walking toward her goals. She never became bitter or felt sorry for her herself or her difficult childhood. She just chalked her situation up to the way things were. Some people have money, some don't.

Maxine never focused on having a large amount of material possessions, but a comfortable lifestyle. She blamed nothing on other people. She always believed if she tried hard enough and believed enough in her God, things would turn out as they were supposed to. Even if she was wrongly treated, she walked on, rather than wasting energy blaming others or her circumstances. The Rev. Joel Osteen uses Matthew 9:17 to explain how our attitudes and beliefs affect what we accomplish.

"You can't put new wine into old wineskin." The old hardened leather wineskins would not stretch and expand for the new wine, so they would burst. Osteen is making the point you can't reach new heights unless you change your thinking. You have to let your mind expand with new positive ideas before you can attain anything new or different. As long as you stay stuck in old ideas, feelings of lack and negativity and low-self-confidence, you will never be able to enter into the newness of life.

Maxine never allowed herself to get stuck in her situation. She knew her parents did what they could to raise her in a manner they could afford. She wanted to be able to expand and reach new heights in her life. Without letting go of anger, self-pity or low self-confidence, that would never have happened. You have to empty out what's there before you can refill the container. That statement refers to your past, bad experiences or what's outdated. You must let the fresh air in.

Before you can achieve your dreams, you have to believe you can.

"It shall be done to you according to your faith" --Matthew 9:29.

James Allan, author of the book "As A Man Thinketh," says, "The outer conditions of a person's life will always be found to be harmoniously related to his inner state." And Proverbs says, "As a man thinketh, so he is."

Allan goes on to say, "Man is buffeted by circumstances so long as he believes himself to be the creature of outside conditions, but when he realizes that he is a creative power and he can command the hidden soil of his being out of which circumstances grow, he then becomes the rightful master of himself."